If you're wondering about this chapter, then I'll give an answer at the bottom of this page. Just read on or scroll to the bottom of you want it.
Enjoy the chapter.
"I see you there. I see you sitting there, looking innocent but watching me. With those beady eyes of yours."
Foxy awoke abruptly from his slumber at the sound of another voice. He had been having restless dreams of a shadowy figure bent over a table in a dark room, working with endoskeleton parts, as of late, but now these weird dreams were being interrupted. From what Foxy could tell from his position, it sounded like Puppet was loudly talking to himself in the main room. Foxy wondered what could be wrong this time. Was Puppet complaining about Bon-Bon by himself again?
"Huh?" Foxy mumbled as he awoke. "What is Puppet doing now?"
"You may have everyone else fooled, but not me! I don't trust you at all! I know you're up to something!"
Foxy sighed, opened his curtains, and left his cove, walking into the main room. Puppet was standing over by the stage, glaring at the elf and reindeer plushies that lined the front of the stage with a suspicious and accusing look.
"Puppet, what are you doing?" Foxy asked, raising an eyebrow quizzically.
"Being the bad cop." Puppet replied, turning to face Foxy. "Right now I'm interrogating a possible suspect of recent activity going on this pizzeria! Look, he already looks guilty!" Puppet pointed at the elf plushie he had been talking to.
"But...why, though?" Foxy approached the elf. He didn't understand why Puppet thought he could get any answers out of this thing; it was a normal stuffed animal that was completely lifeless and limp. It couldn't speak to them, hear them, or do anything at all except lie there. "It's just an elf plushie. It's not going to give you an answer back."
"It's not a stuffed animal, it's one of those elves!"
"They're all stuffed animals, Puppet! Every single one of them!" Foxy pointed at each and every plushie. All of them were just toys, they weren't living at all.
"But that's what they WANT you to think!" Puppet claimed, narrowing his eyes. "They're actual elves, Foxy! They're spying on us to make sure we don't misbehave, and they go back and make regular reports to their masters, including Santa himself!"
"Really? That's the reason this time? I think this is all just a paranoid idea going on in your head, Puppet, not an actual thing. They're all stuffed animals, they never move an inch. Well, I swear this one plushie was in a different position yesterday- er, that's besides the point! The point is, they're not real!"
"So you haven't been seeing them run around everywhere? Because I have!"
"Well...I do remember seeing a flash of green disappear around a corner yesterday, but everyone told me it was just a figment of my imagination."
"It was definitely real. I saw it too."
"Okay, thanks for believing me, I guess, but why is it that you believe me and nobody else does?! You're a voice in my head that's tried to destroy us! Anyway, Puppet, I don't know if that was real or fake."
"That's how it all starts out, see!" Puppet continued. "First, you see flashes of them that disappear quickly, and then they start running by in plain sight before disappearing again! Sometimes they even nibble on your feet, mainly your toes, when you're not looking! And later, they start to actually take action! And then they get you!"
Foxy winced a little. "Okay, that does sound bad. If this is real like you say it is, I'd definitely want to avoid it." Foxy looked at the elf plushies. "Okay, elves, where are your masters?! Where are they- wait, wait, what am I doing? Am I actually starting to listen to this nonsense? Yeesh, my bad. You know, Puppet, I'm skeptical, but I'm willing to give this a chance. Let's go ask everyone else if they saw any elves. If more people than just us saw them, that might confirm your suspicions."
Puppet nodded. "That was what I was planning to do from the very beginning. Great minds think alike, I guess. I'll let you take the credit for this one, though, since I'm feeling nice today."
"Cool, thanks. Now, who should we ask first?"
"We're pretty close to the kitchen, actually. Let's ask Dinah first."
"Good idea, let's go over there."
The two of them crossed the main room and went into the kitchen. Dinah was in there by himself, working busily at the stove.
"Hey, Dinah." Foxy greeted.
"Huh?" Dinah muttered, turning around. He saw Foxy and Puppet there and brightened at once. "Ah! Hello again, Foxy! Hello again, Puppet! How might you two be doing today?"
"Alright, I guess. So, we're here because Puppet has...a really, really weird question to ask you. You don't mind if he asks you something weird, right?"
Dinah squinted a little, frowning. "It doesn't have something to do with pizza, does it? I told you, I'm working on it, but it's not ready yet-"
"No, no, it's not about pizza! At least, not this time."
Dinah went back to smiling. "Ah, very good. Then I may very well be able to give you an answer. What is the question?"
Puppet leaned his head forward. "Have you seen any little guys running around here? They're called 'elves'."
"To be more precise, have you seen any small guys in different colors, specifically in green, running around here?" Foxy added.
Dinah tilted his head. "Do you happen to mean leprechauns? I always hear Americans talking about leprechauns."
"No, no, we're not talking about leprechauns. And we're not talking about aliens, either. We're talking about elves. They're these little guys who help Santa Claus."
"Ah, Babbo Natale! Santa Claus! Yes, I think I know who you mean."
"Good. See, we're kind of afraid that Santa may be employing the elves to keep tabs on us and maybe even do something to us. I may or may not have accidentally almost killed Santa without meaning to, and now we're paranoid that Santa is sending the elves to spy on us. And, er, nibble on our feet, apparently."
"Nibble on our feet?! Goodness, no! I like my feet very much, I do not want to lose them!"
"Then that makes two of us. You've been here WAY too long, probably...so, have you seen any elves?"
"To answer your question, no, I haven't seen any of these 'little green men' that you're talking about."
Puppet snapped his spindly fingers. "Aw, man!"
"Yes, I haven't. The only little green things I ever see around here are my olives! I would put them in my pizzas, you know...if I could even make any."
"I know what you're thinking, and we'll get you the tomato sauce soon, okay? Okay. Puppet, let's ask someone else." Foxy walked over to the garbage chute and opened it. "Garbage is right down there. You can ask him."
"Alright, I will." Puppet accepted. He went over to the garbage chute and peered inside of it. "Hey! Garbage! I need to ask you something real quick."
"Uh...yeah, okay. What is it?" Garbage's voice came, the former security guard's voice slightly echoing from down where he was.
"Have you seen any sort of little green people running around down where you are?"
"Um...no, I haven't seen anything like that. No idea what you're talking about."
"He sounds suspicious." Foxy admit to Puppet.
"He definitely does." Puppet agreed. "Garbage, are you positive you haven't seen any? Not even in the garbage piles you're next to?"
Garbage paused. "No, nothing like that." He replied. "Just chicken, candy, and other assorted things..."
"Hmm." Puppet looked even more suspicious of Garbage now. "Are you telling lies to us?"
"No, no, of course not! Relax! I, uh...still want to go home. Would you be more willing to let me leave if I said there were green people down here?"
Foxy sighed. If Garbage was now starting to beg to be let go, that meant he hadn't seen any. "He's lying to us." Foxy sighed. "Alright, Garbage, we'll go for now. But if any green guys appear down there, you can handle them yourself. Just flush them away with the sewer water. It'll be fine...at least, I think it will." Foxy paused. "Uh, humans can breath underwater, right?"
"Yeah, uh, last I checked, they couldn't."
"Alright, then you'll probably be fine. We're going for now, but if any little green men appear down there, tell us, okay?"
"Okay, okay, but can you please throw some food down here? I haven't had a good meal in a long while!"
Foxy and Puppet looked at each other. "Eh, I don't feel like catering to him right now." Foxy said, shaking his head. He closed the garbage chute up and looked at Dinah as he and Puppet turned to leave. "Hey, Dinah, can you give Garbage some food whenever you have the chance? He's hungry."
"Yes, of course I will!" Dinah accepted, grinning. "I have a large supply of bread that I have not been able to use! This is the perfect chance to give it away to someone!"
"Great, you do that. See you later."
"Bye, Dinah. See you around." Puppet added, waving to Dinah.
Dinah waved back at them as Foxy and Puppet left the kitchen behind and re-entered the main room.
"So we talked to them." Puppet assessed. "Who's next?"
"The only other people we can talk to right now are Reggie and Ballora." Foxy explained, reaching back into his mind to grab the knowledge of the whereabouts of the other animatronics in the building. "You already know that Baby has gone back into video game hibernation and isn't talking to us anytime soon. Freddy is nowhere to be found, of course. As for Bon-Bon...well, after yesterday, he kind of went off on his own. I haven't seen him since."
"Actually, that reminds me. Based on what I suspect, I think Bon-Bon might be a spy for the elves. Maybe the elves are bribing Bon-Bon so he'll help them."
"Well, that sounds pretty absurd, but then again, it is Bon-Bon, so...he might be. If not doing that, then I don't know what he's doing. He could be anywhere in this building right now." Foxy finished his sentence and looked off down towards the big hallway, which was connected to the main room from a doorway at the other side of the room. But, as he looked over there, he could see it again; a flash of green disappearing around the corner. "Wait, was that another elf?! I think I saw another elf!"
"Where?!" Puppet exclaimed excitedly.
"Over there!" Foxy pointed at the corner that he had seen the flash of green at, which was over where the big hallway was. The two of them rushed into the big hallway...but nothing was there. Foxy looked left and right, up and down the hallway, at the corners and the ceiling...but, top to bottom, side to side, there was nobody here. Foxy sighed. "There's nothing here. I guess I didn't see one after all..."
Puppet shrugged. "Well, that's too bad. I was hoping to catch one. So, let's continue asking people if they've seen elves. Say..." Puppet looked off down the hall, in the direction of the doorway to the auditorium. "...Foxy, do you reckon Baby might have seen one?"
"I already told you, she's in video game hibernation mode. She probably won't talk to us."
"I know, but we should try talking to her anyway. Maybe she's forgiven you by now."
"Hmm...alright, fine, let's go see if she's ready to come out, and maybe also tell us if she's seen elves too."
After a short trek through the big hallway, Foxy headed into the auditorium and across it, right to where the vent grate was on the wall of the stage. He peered into it. Baby was in there, sitting on her armchair, controller in hand and headphones on her head. Foxy could distinguish the sounds of rapid button-mashing he had gotten accustomed to whenever he was near Baby while she was playing her games.
However, he recognized those headphones. He had seen them on her head last time, and they looked the same as ever: the noise-cancellation headphones. Foxy let out an audible groan. Baby would not be able to hear them with those on, and she had most likely locked the trapdoor into the passage too, so there was no chance of Foxy being able to get her attention. In short, her headphones conveyed the silent message of 'I'm not going to talk to you right now'.
"Yeah, scratch that." Foxy said to Puppet, hardly trying to hide his disappointment. "She definitely doesn't seem ready to come out. She has the noise-cancellation headphones on, so she won't be able to hear us. And even so, she's probably still intentionally ignoring us."
"Hmm. That's too bad." Puppet replied. "I mean, have you ever tried disconnecting the internet? Then she'll have no choice but to stop playing and come out."
Foxy let out a laugh. "Good luck trying that."
Puppet looked confused. "What do you mean by that?"
"I tried that once before."
"And?"
"She was pretty angry with me. And she stood there and glared at me until I finally agreed to reconnect the internet. So, in short, doing that is basically playing with fire. Besides, she has singleplayer games, too, and those ones don't need internet. Even if we disconnected the internet, she would still be able to play games, regardless of whether or not she ends up getting mad at us for it."
Puppet winced. "Ouch. I don't think I'm ready to risk that."
"Me neither."
"We'll have to ask her later then. Whenever she has time."
"Not a bad plan, but she plays video games almost nonstop. It might be weeks before she's ready to talk to us again."
"That is true...yeah, since she is so focused on video games, she probably wouldn't see any elves roaming the halls of this place. It's probably unnecessary to ask her."
"Exactly. Now, I say we go back to the original plan and ask Ballora and Reggie."
"I think this time, I'll go with the plan. Let's go and see them."
After yet another, slightly longer trek down the big hallway, this time in the opposite direction, Foxy and Puppet ended up at the doors to Ballora's room.
"Ballora! Reggie! Hey!" Foxy greeted as he threw open the doors and entered the room. Ballora was sitting on stage with her tea set and stuffed animals put out and ready, halfway through lifting her tea cup up to her mouth to take a sip. But, not only that, there were also a large collection of boxes littered about the stage, as well as wrapping paper, tape, a pair of scissors and several rolls of ribbons. Reggie was obediently standing on the stage, nearby the tea set, and silently watching Ballora.
"Oh! Uh, hey guys." Ballora greeted back, looking a little thrown-off. She had been about to drink out of her tea cup, which was full of tea. "What brings you here today?"
"Just coming to visit and chat. What's going on with you?"
"I've been busy wrapping presents up in here. It's been pretty fun using all this wrapping paper I had. I was just waiting to put it all to use...well, anyway, I've been wrapping presents up so I can prepare to give gifts on Christmas day."
"Oh, neat! Are any of them for me?"
Ballora gave Foxy a stare. "Sorry, that's a Christmas secret. You'll have to find out when Christmas day rolls around."
"Aw, man. When is Christmas day again?"
"The twenty-fifth, if I remember correctly. That's only a couple weeks away. And before you ask, no, you may not look inside the boxes. However, if you're good during the Christmas season, then yes, some of these presents may very well end up being yours."
"Fine, fine, I understand. I will say, it is pretty nice of you to think of everyone like this."
Ballora raised an eyebrow, but she smiled too. "Why the tone of surprise? I can be a nice person when I want to, Foxy. I'm not always going to be mean."
"Yes, and that's all fine and good, but let's get back to why we're here." Puppet interrupted, sporting his determined look again. "Ballora, what is your current stance concerning the elf uprising around the pizzeria?"
Ballora groaned exasperatedly. "Again with the elf business? Are you guys still trying to find them?! I already told you, they're invisible and they hide better than anything and anyone else! You can't catch an elf!"
"Well, I don't know about that!" Foxy countered. "I swear, I keep seeing flashes of green whenever I go around corners. That had to have been the elves."
"Hmm. Puppet, aren't you getting a tad bit obsessed with these elves?"
"It's perfectly justified." Puppet claimed. "They're trying to take over this very pizzeria. We have to quell this very uprising before they get us!"
"Wait, what? Oh, no...that lines up perfectly with the stories I've heard. This is how it all starts. First it's annoyance, and then it becomes a sudden need, and then need turns to obsession! An obsession to hunt down and capture the elves! So you look here, and there, and everywhere! And before you know it, suddenly the thoughts of the elves are all that you can think of. They grow bigger and bigger, until they consume your mind...forever."
"Okay, that sounds like some snarky rumor spread on the internet." Foxy interjected skeptically.
"Huh?! No, it's totally real! That guy was a credible source!"
"Right, whatever you say. I need to talk to...REGGIE!"
"Pardon?" Reggie stuttered, suddenly snapping to attention. He had been tuning out for several minutes and was only now focusing on the others' words.
"Reggie, I need to ask you: have you seen any elves around here?"
"Elves? Erm, no, I've seen no such thing. I've just been helping Ballora wrap all the presents she wants to deliver."
"But of course, you have to be lying!" Puppet called out, becoming bad cop in the blink of an eye. He walked up and got in Reggie's face. "Reggie, tell me where the elves are hiding!"
"Woah, woah, calm down, Puppet!" Foxy exclaimed, grabbing Puppet and pulling him backwards, away from Reggie. "There's no point overreacting about this."
"Say it, don't spray it, Mr. Puppet." Reggie asked, cringing a bit. "You kind of spat in my face. Wait..." Reggie rubbed his face. "No, no, this is oil. How unpleasant."
"I can help you with that." Foxy offered. The fox opened his chest cavity slightly, reached inside, and pulled out a clean rag, giving it to Reggie before closing his chest cavity back up. "Here, use that."
"Oh, thank you very much." Reggie thanked, taking the rag and whipping his face off.
"No problem, I'm happy to help." Foxy responded, nodding. "You can keep the rag; I don't need it anymore." Foxy then turned to Puppet. "Now, Puppet, you need to calm down and take this in a more controlled manner, alright? I know that you're really set on finding these elves, and I am too. I've been curious if they're here ever since that accident with Santa and the first time I saw a flash of green around the corner. But we can't rush into this, okay? We're never going to find any elves if we act rashly."
"If I may interject, I do have an idea." Reggie spoke up. "Maybe you could try setting a trap for the elves, something like a mousetrap that you use to catch a mouse. I don't think the elves would like cheese, though...so you'll have to figure out what the elves prefer to eat."
"Cookies! If Santa likes cookies, his elves are bound to like them too!"
"Or maybe candy canes. I've heard candy canes are quite a favorite among elves."
"That might actually work! Man, this brings back the whole Santa thing. I could've caught him if I had been on my prime that day, but-"
"WHAT?!" Ballora yelled out of nowhere, making everyone jump. "You caught Santa?! Is he in the main room right now?!"
"Wait, no, no, you've got it all wrong! That happened a few days ago! I didn't catch Santa, he left and he's at the North Pole right now-"
"But you said you caught him! What if he's unconscious right now, deprived of cookies and milk?! I can't just sit here!" Ballora ran off the stage in a panic, running into the big hallway and out of the room. "SANTA! I'M COMING!"
"WAIT! Come back!" Foxy called, but she didn't stop. Foxy gritted his teeth; he needed to stop Ballora, or else she would end up getting the wrong idea, be disappointed, and then end up mad at Foxy. Foxy, not wanting this to happen, knew he had to follow her and catch her; she already had a head start. There was no time to lose. "Ballora, get back here!"
He followed Ballora out of the room. He chased her on and on as they went halfway down the big hallway, then turned right into the small hallway and went all the way down it. Foxy, thankfully, was a faster runner than Ballora, and he was gaining on her quite noticeably.
"Ballora, stop!" Foxy ordered her, grabbing her arm just as they stopped right in the doorway that stood between the small hallway and the main room.
"What?! What do you want?!" Ballora yelled.
"You're overreacting! Look, nothing's in there!"
"Huh?" Ballora looked into the main room, looking left and right as she searched for Santa. Her eyes were closed, but Foxy knew she was looking. Her expression of confusion turned to anger. "Hey, he isn't in here! You lied to me!"
"I didn't lie to you, you just thought I did!"
"Well-!"
"Hey...would you look at that."
Foxy turned and saw that Puppet had followed them. He was standing there in the small hallway, off to the side, and looking at them with an amused expression.
"What is it now, Puppet?" Foxy asked, slightly annoyed. "I'm trying to explain something to Ballora here!"
"Well, I don't mean to interrupt, but...just want to say...I've never been a big fan of this whole Christmas thing, but that thing above your head...isn't that a traditional thing in Christmas?"
"Huh?" Foxy stuttered.
"Wait...he doesn't mean..." Ballora muttered, looking afraid.
"No way can it be..."
"It isn't..."
And then, both of them looked up. Right above them, hanging in the doorway, was something that looked like a plant, with a few leaves sticking out and a red ribbon tied to it, hanging there. And they knew what it was right away.
"NO!" Both Foxy and Ballora said at the same time.
"This is ridiculous! This is absolutely ridiculous!" Foxy protested. "Of all the things to happen, of all the bad luck to show up, THIS is what happens! What, is my luck in the toilet or something?!"
"And here I thought Christmas traditions were lucky!" Ballora yelled back. "I completely forget about the mistletoe! How could it have slipped my mind?! I'm usually so attentive to Christmas! How could such a great holiday do this to me?!"
"-no way am I doing this! I'd be embarrassed! No, I'd be HUMILIATED! You guys have already got to me one too many times, and that was just for a few days! If I do this, you'll have enough ammunition for...a long time! Probably forever!"
"-this is betrayal, I tell you! I already have Reggie! I can only kiss him, nobody else, nothing else! I'm not just going to turn my back on him for some random fox in which I have no interest towards!"
"ME NEITHER! I wouldn't want to do something this weird with you! You drink that weird potty tea everyday, and I know it! And it tastes horrible! What if I have to have the taste of it in my sensors for the rest of my life?!"
"You're even worse! You probably never took a single moment to clean the gunk out of your insides, and now I have to get close with you?! I'll probably have the stench of rotten fish and others junk on me for weeks! I'll never be able to clean it out!"
"This is-!"
"I just can't-!"
"You're kidding me-!"
"This must be a joke-!"
"AAAAAAAAAUUGGH!" They both screamed out, and then they quit after a few moments. Each one of them fell silent, catching their robotic breaths, trying to make sense of everything.
Puppet just shrugged. "Sorry, guys, I've heard that you have to do it."
"Why are you even watching us, anyway?!" Foxy sighed irritably.
"Well, I'd walk forward and go past you, but I'd rather not get trapped in...er, the loop."
"Ugh...well, Ballora, we have got to take down this stupid thing later before it becomes a real problem."
"Yeah, I agree with you on that." Ballora grumbled. "What was I thinking? It was just a fun novelty to fit with the decorations. I never thought something like this would happen..."
"Not me, either. So...how are we going to play this?"
"As quickly as possible! I'm not going to stand for this any longer than we need to!"
"Alright, guys, hurry it up." Puppet said. "You're blocking the hallway."
"Fine, fine, we'll do this!" Foxy sighed. Okay, Foxy, you can get through this. Just think of it as...riding a bike for the first time! Down a cliff. Into a fiery pit. With giant devils that plan on roasting me alive...no, wait, I'm not ready for this.
They both fell silent. Both Foxy and Ballora looked at each other, neither of them budging, neither of them wanting to make the first move. It was all so entirely palpable, the situation they were in. Foxy felt like the day would never end.
The silence seemed to drag on, getting further and further with every passing moment, not wanting to leave, not wanting to depart.
And then...
"You know what? How about this." Foxy sighed, shaking his head. He brought up his right pointer finger, gave it a sort of 'kiss', and then simply tapped a befuddled Ballora on the cheek with it. "There. There's your 'kiss.' I'm not going to burn myself any more than I have already."
"Yeah, uh...I'll do that too." Ballora said, and she kissed her own finger and did the exact same thing to Foxy. "There! That's as far as I go! No more!" She and Foxy looked over at Puppet. He was standing there watching, something of a smirk on his face. "What's so funny?!" Ballora snapped.
"Eh...I'm not sure." Puppet replied cheekily. "Just, you know...thinking about life."
Foxy groaned in his head. Based on the look on Puppet's face, Foxy knew right away that Puppet was going to exaggerate what just happened as greatly as possible to make it sound worse, and then he was going to tell everybody else the exaggerated version of the events. Or he was going to keep it to himself. Either way, Foxy knew that both he and Ballora were going to be pummeled about this for a while.
"So, Puppet, are you happy now?" Foxy asked with a note of distaste and sarcasm in his voice.
Puppet gave Foxy a look. "Say what?"
"I gave Ballora the 'kiss', okay? And I don't care what you say, that's as far as I'm willing to go. I don't get why you seem to enjoy this so much. If you're trying to hook us up or something crazy like that, give us a break, alright? We're not this stupid 'romantic relationship' that you're probably trying to think of. We're just friends, buddies, pals, all of that. So please, cut us some slack, alright?"
"Yes, exactly!" Ballora agreed, nodding. "We're the very definition of good friends, and that's all there is to it! No more, no less! So don't think your order to make us do that stupid 'kiss' is magically going to make your dreams come true!"
Puppet's smirk faded, and he looked mildly surprised. "What? No, I never said you had to do that."
"Yes, you did!" Foxy interjected. "You said it was 'tradition' and all that, so we had to do it!"
"I- no. I just gave you a friendly recommendation, that was all. I never said you had to do it, no matter what."
Ballora gave Puppet a suspicious look. "No, I'm pretty sure you did."
Puppet just tilted his head.
Foxy shrugged. "Augh, forget that. We'll just- wait a minute...what about Reggie? What is he going to think of this?"
Ballora gasped. "Oh, no, you're right! What if he stops loving me because I did this dumb thing?! I have to apologize right now! REGGIE!"
She ran off in the opposite direction that she had been heading before, pushing past Puppet so she could head into the big hallway and towards her room.
"Wait for me!" Foxy called, and he followed behind her.
"Reggie! I'm so, so, so, so, SO sorry!" Ballora yelled as she entered the room, ran over to Reggie, and grabbed the man's arm. Reggie looked as if they had just told him he was a wizard.
"It was a complete accident!" Foxy defended as he came in and headed over to Reggie, Puppet entering the room behind him. "I was trying to stop Ballora, and then there was the mistletoe, and then Puppet pressured us..."
"-And then this, and then that, and then Santa, and then a panic, and then Puppet saying it was tradition, and, and...WAAAH!" She sobbed into Reggie's arm. "I'm sorry! I can never be sorry enough!"
"Woah, woah, take it easy!" Reggie reassured them, waving them down politely. "What happened to make you guys this upset?"
"I...I...I gave Ballora a sort of kiss under mistletoe!" Foxy revealed. "Well, it was more of a tap on her cheek with a kissed finger, but you know what I mean!"
"I'm so embarrassed! I never wanted to do that..." Ballora whined.
"Reggie, if you're mad at us, it's fine! I'll take responsibility!"
"Um, you don't need to overreact. I'm fine." Reggie replied, giving them a patient look. "I understand the situation. Mistletoe tends to put friends into crazy situations like that. It's all tradition, too. I'm not upset, alright? If anything, I'm perfectly fine with accidents like this happening. It won't mean much at the end of the day, right? I'm sure you two can move forward from this. Besides, cheek kissing is a used to indicate friendship in Europe. Sure, we might not be in Europe, but perhaps you can just think of your sort-of-kind-of 'kiss' as a respectful way of showing that you two are good friends."
"Oh." Foxy replied, then smiled. "See, Ballora? It's all good. Reggie's still our friend, and he understands the situation."
"Phew, I'm so glad." Ballora said, smiling. "Thank you very much, Reggie! Now, I think I need to have a cup of potty tea real quick and cool myself down."
"Sounds like a good idea."
Ballora nodded, grabbed a cup of potty tea sitting on the stage, and took a large sip. Once she was done, she looked very satisfied. "Ah, that's good."
"Say...that thing by your tea set, Ballora. It looks...peculiar." Puppet cut in, giving a stare at one of the stuffed animals set out by the tea set, which looked something like a four-legged, green-colored creature.
"Wait, him? My goodness, don't you interrogate Mr. Creepy!" Ballora chastised. "He doesn't like having to answer weird questions."
"But he looks kind of like...an elf."
"No, he doesn't!" Foxy countered. "Puppet, you know what elves look like! Didn't you see the elf plushies put in the main room? THOSE are what elves look like! Does this toy over here look anything like that?"
"Well, uh...no."
"Exactly! We aren't going to have to go over elf anatomy, are we? I don't want to have to spend time teaching you the whole concept." Ballora added.
"Wait, so you DO know stuff about elves!"
"Of course I do, Puppet. I've read tons of books and looked up all sorts of information on them. There's plenty to learn about them if you know where to look."
"Really!? Where?!"
"Um..." Ballora gave a sheepish expression. "...on the internet, because I may have went and used your computer without permission to look up stuff about elves?"
Puppet looked scandalized. "Wait, what? Why on earth are you coming into my room without getting my permission first?"
"Yeah, uh...I just really wanted to know as much as possible. I was getting bugged by my desire to know more all day long, so...I kind of just listened to it. You know what they say: 'Knowing is half the battle!' and 'Knowledge is power!' And all that."
Foxy just shrugged. "Okay, then. You know what, though? Puppet, I think I'd better show you exactly what an elf looks like. After all, you have to know what you're looking for before you look for it."
"Okay, sounds cool." Puppet agreed, looking pleased to hear Foxy say such things. He and Foxy started to head towards the door.
"You two have fun!" Ballora called after them. "And by the way, I am NOT going to go over to the mistletoe ever again. At least not until somebody removes it."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure to remove it from the doorway when I get over there."
"Good! You'd better make sure to burn it, too!"
"Will do!"
With this and several other goals in mind, Foxy and Puppet left the room together.
As Foxy entered the main room from the small hallway, he stopped right in the middle of the doorway, reached up, and tore the mistletoe down from where it was hanging.
"Whew, got it!" He voiced in relief, just as Puppet came up behind him. "Now we won't have to deal with the mistletoe anymore. Seems like a good step forward."
Then, Foxy led Puppet over to the stage, and right over to the same spot Foxy had seen Puppet standing at earlier, and pointed at one of the elf plushies lined up in front of the stage's pedestals.
"So, see this? This is what an elf generally looks like." Foxy explained to Puppet.
"Oh, I forgot that we were talking about these earlier." Puppet brought up, nodding. But then he narrowed his eyes, looking unconvinced. "I thought these were just stuffed animals, though. Aren't they fake?"
"Yeah, it's not a real elf, but it's a plushie meant to look like one, so by observing it, you'll get a pretty good idea of what an elf would look like if you ever encountered one. That is, without the squishiness. Or maybe just as squishy. I'm not too sure myself, seeing as I've never seen an elf personally, but I think they look just like how the plushie looks."
"Ah, I see." Puppet examined the elf, gazing at it from top to bottom. "Not going to lie, they do look a bit spooky. Those long ears give me bad vibes."
"I suppose they might be a bit weird."
"Mm-hmm. Well, now we know what to look out for. Pretty good information."
"Yep, so it is. Anyway, I think I'm going to go back to my room and get some more sleep. I could use it."
"Wait a minute." Puppet suddenly looked a bit alarmed, and he ran across the main room and into Foxy's room. Foxy, confused, followed after Puppet. When he entered his room, he noticed that Puppet was standing at the cove, looking at the trapdoor on the floor of the cove.
"Uh, what's up?" Foxy asked, a bit worried.
"It just occurred to me...did I seal up that room tightly enough?"
"H-huh? Why are you asking? What could be in there?"
"An elf might have gotten in there, but...no, no, the room's sealed off tight. They probably aren't in there, and even if they were, they'd be trapped."
"Er...sounds great. Well, I need to get to sleep."
"Right, right, you do that. I'm going to head back to my box. You have a good night, Foxy."
"Thanks, you too."
Puppet took his leave from the room, leaving Foxy alone. Foxy stood there for a moment, taking in the peaceful silence. It was quite refreshing, considering that whenever he was around his friends, he often had to deal with them making as much noise as possible; they were hardly ever quiet.
After taking a minute of peace and quiet to himself, Foxy entered his cove, closed the curtains behind him, and turned himself off. He'd get the rest he wanted to get, and see how things would look tomorrow...
Meanwhile, over on the stage, the elf plushies continued to look ahead, sitting there, silent and unmoving.
But then, suddenly, there was a small flash of light, and an elf stood where an elf plushie had once been.
It looked around, its eyes scanning for any signs of the animatronics around. When it was sure that nobody was there, it jumped off of the stage with a plop. It turned around, focused on the spot it had been at for a moment...and then a new elf plushie appeared there, taking the elf's former place.
Then the elf turned and began to head towards the front door, ready to head home. It had all the information it needed for one day. Now, all it needed to do was report back to Santa and tell him what he had seen.
They would need all the information they could get if they wanted to be ready...
And that's the end of the chapter! Thanks for reading!
Oh, and if you're wondering, no. Foxy and Ballora are not going to end up together in this fanfic. I don't ship them. The whole thing with the mistletoe was more of a random accident than a romantic moment.
Are there going to be pairings that are more solid than just a crush? Definitely, but that's a long, long way off from where we are in the story, so don't look out for them just yet.
With that said, I'll see you at the next chapter. Bye!
