Okay, okay, here's the new chapter. Please don't spam in the reviews begging for more chapters; that won't make me release new chapters any faster, and I don't appreciate being rushed.

Enjoy!


This was it. It was time to get the jump on him.

Foxy snuck down the big hallway, his claws out, his mind prepared, and he was ready to spring into action at any moment. He knew right where his target was, and how he'd get the target. All he had to do was sneak up and surprise him.

Foxy could hear his target calling his name from nearby. The target was looking for him, searching for him, trying to find his presence...but Foxy knew it was up to him to make sure he found the target before the target found him. The more unexpected, the better.

He reached the doorway to the small hallway and went through it, going down said hallway right towards the main room, making sure to keep quiet so the target wouldn't be able to hear him coming. When it came to stealth, the animatronics knew how to be noiseless, and they utilized it when it was needed.

As Foxy entered the main room, he could finally get a proper view of the target. The target's back was turned, looking the other way, and not expecting an attack from behind. Perfect. That was all Foxy needed. The target was calling his name at the moment, wondering where Foxy could've gone. He was unaware at the moment, but if he turned around, then Foxy would be toast.

So he wasted no time. He crept up to the target as fast as he could, and making sure to stay noiseless at the same time. Now he was close to the target, being just close enough to be able to touch them. Finally, he was in the perfect position. Time to strike.

And then he struck. He grabbed the target's shoulder and whipped them around so they faced him. The target's eyes widened, and they were already opening their mouth to scream, but it was already too late for them. Foxy tapped into his inner systems and forced his faceplates open, revealing the endoskeleton face within as he raised his arms and let out the most inhuman, monstrous scream his voicebox could manage.

"Augh!" Puppet yelped as he jumped back in surprise.

"Ha! Got you, Puppet!" Foxy laughed triumphantly, his scare paying off just the way he had hoped. "Didn't expect me to scare you straight, did you?"

"No, I definitely did not. Goodness, Foxy, you almost made me jump out of my skin. And by my skin, I mean my suit."

Foxy grinned in pleasure. He had snuck on Puppet and scared him as a prank, just as he had planned to. The fox had been roaming the halls minutes earlier, contemplating what he was meant to do on that day, when he had heard Puppet calling for him, wanting to see him. Although Foxy knew he could have just walked up normally and said hello, which was what he usually did, today he felt different. He had been in the mood to hone his jumpscaring skills and try them out on unsuspecting people today, and he also wanted to pull a grand trick on Puppet at the same time. Needless to say, he had succeeded in both of these areas, as he had managed to score a near-perfect surprise jumpscare on Puppet. As far as Foxy was concerned, that was a win.

"Yeah, bet you were confused." Foxy taunted in a mischievous way. "You're so used to me coming up to you normally that you had no idea that I planned to scare you. Don't you see how effective I was? You didn't hear or see me coming! I'm telling you, Puppet, I'm the best at scaring out of everyone in this place."

"No, you've got it wrong! I wasn't scared at all!" Puppet denied. "You just surprised me, is all."

"Then why'd you jump back so far when I jumped out at you?"

"Er...reflexes! Yes, it was definitely just muscle memory. I'm used to jumping back a far distance when people sneak up on me like that."

"Puppet, you and I both know that's not true. You were definitely a bit more than surprised."

"...okay, I was...maybe. But I think I could've done it better."

"Is that a challenge I hear? Fine, then, bring it on! We'll see who can scare better!"

"Then you go hide, and I'll wait for you to find me."

"Uh, actually, it's the other way around. You go and hide, and I count to ten and then come find you. However, it doesn't have to be me that gets you. If you can scare me before I scare you, you get the win instead. Basically, think of it like a scarier version of hide-and-seek."

Puppet blinked, but looked otherwise unfazed. "Fine, then, that's how it'll work. I'm going to go hide. You turn around and start counting."

"Okay, I'll do that." Foxy turned around and closed his eyes as he began to count out loud. From behind him, he could hear Puppet as the marionette ran off, his footsteps getting farther away by the second. Foxy, wanting to be fair, did not look around, but continued counting.

However, he didn't want to be entirely fair. Right as he got to four...

Okay, I'm going to come and get him now. Foxy decided, and he grinned at this strategy. Puppet would have called it cheating had he been there, but Foxy considered it deception tactics. After all, part of catching a victim and scaring them was to catch them off-guard, and Foxy would certainly be doing so if he started looking for Puppet several seconds earlier than he was meant to. After all, he didn't want to be predictable.

He turned around, and of course, he didn't see Puppet anywhere. This, he had expected. He knew Puppet would want to get as far away as possible. Foxy thought back to the way he had heard Puppet run off, and he deduced that the marionette had ran down the small hallway and onwards to somewhere beyond that point.

And so, Foxy started to head down the small hallway to look for Puppet.


Foxy took a look inside Ballora's room. The doors had been left ajar, so Foxy invited himself in to see if Puppet had went in there. Puppet wasn't anywhere in sight, and neither was Ballora, but Foxy did see Reggie standing on the stage in his usual spot, being silent.

"Hey, Reggie." Foxy greeted.

"Oh. Hello, Foxy." Reggie greeted a little quietly. "Need something?"

"Don't mind me, just looking for Puppet. Did you see him run in here, by any chance."

"No, nothing of that sort. If you're wondering why the doors were open, well...Ballora ran off to go and do something, and she didn't bother to close the doors as she left. She told me that I'm not supposed to move from this position while she's gone, so I can't close the doors."

Foxy shrugged. "Sounds like her. Did she say what she was going to do?"

"Er, sort of? She kind of yelled it as she was leaving. Something about going to hang out with someone."

"Hanging out with someone? Probably Baby, I'm guessing. Well, if you haven't seen Puppet, and he isn't in here, then that's fine. Thanks for the help, Reggie. I'll see you later."

"Um, okay. Bye."

Foxy turned around and headed for the doors to leave, but just as he reached them...

"BOO!" Puppet yelled, jumping out from behind the doorframe.

"GAAH!" Foxy exclaimed, leaping back. "Oh, come on! That was a cheap scare!"

"Should've been prepared for that, Foxy!" Puppet taunted, wagging a finger. "Are you scared now?"

"Uh...nope, definitely not! That scare was okay, but you need to do a lot better if you really want to strike fear into your victims. Now, it's my turn to hide. You face the wall and start counting."

"Alright, go on."

They headed into the big hallway, and Puppet turned and faced the wall, starting the process of counting down from 10. Foxy, snickering in a way where Puppet could not hear him, went down the big hallway until he arrived at the area of the hall where the bathrooms were. He then snuck into the girl's bathroom, hid in the doorway, and waited.

He knew very well that he wasn't allowed to be in here, and that if he was caught, he'd be yelled at, but he didn't care. Animatronics never cared about where they had to hide in order to scare victims; Foxy knew that very well. As long as he got the jump on Puppet, a few minutes in the girl's restroom would be worth it.

Finally, Foxy heard Puppet finish counting, and he snickered again.

He won't expect me to be hiding here. Foxy thought mirthfully. I've got the element of surprise on my side again...

Foxy heard Puppet's footsteps coming closer, and then Puppet came over to where the bathrooms were. He hadn't noticed Foxy hiding in the doorway yet.

"Let's see..." Foxy heard Puppet whisper. "He couldn't have gone in my box, could he? Or maybe..." Puppet looked at the boy's bathroom, just across the hall from the girl's. "Maybe he went and hid in the bathroom..."

It was at this point that Foxy stopped listening to what Puppet was saying. He had found the perfect opportunity to strike, because Puppet's back was completely turned from Foxy. Foxy knew that turning your back on an animatronic was the worst thing anyone could do, as it left them completely vulnerable to attack. This was his chance to get the perfect scare.

Foxy ran out of the bathroom doorway and did the same thing he had done last time he had scared Puppet: he grabbed Puppet's shoulder hard, whipping him around so they were facing each other and letting out his deafening scream.

"Augh!" Puppet yelled, jumping back with fright. "Wait...hey!"

"Hah, I got you again! That's twice in a row!" Foxy boasted.

"Aw, man! Wait, you weren't in the girls' bathroom, were you? Come on, that's not fair! You knew I wouldn't try to check in there!"

"Exactly, so that's why I hid in there. You want to pick the right place to hide before you scare the victim, you know. The more unexpected it is, the better. Now you know, Puppet! Aren't I a great teacher?"

Puppet sighed. "You don't have to rub it in, you know."

"Just saying."

"Then we're going to have to go again! You face the wall and count, I'll go and hide!"

"Alright, alright, I'm doing it." Foxy faced the nearest wall, not looking anywhere else, and began to count down like he had last time. He heard Puppet's footsteps trailing off, too. Eventually, Foxy finished counting, and he turned and faced the rest of the hallway. Puppet was nowhere in sight.

Okay, let's take a look around. He won't get the jump on me this time. Foxy thought, determined to win this for a third time. Foxy proceeded over to the doorway to the auditorium, which was nearby, but he didn't see anyone when he peeked inside. Unsure of what to do next, Foxy made a plan: he would check the areas closest to him first. Foxy turned and went over to the bathroom doorways, which were the nearest to him, and looked at the boy's bathroom. He would look in there to begin with.

Foxy took a step forward, but before he could get any closer, he heard a noise behind him: "RAAH!"

"Huh?" Foxy said, and he turned around lazily and saw Puppet standing behind him. "Oh, it's you, Puppet." Foxy smiled. "Looks like you didn't get me this time."

Puppet stamped his feet impatiently. "Drat!"

"Hey, by the way...where were you hiding?"

"...the girl's bathroom. Since it worked for you, I thought it would work for me."

Foxy shook his head. "Doesn't work like that, Puppet. Animatronics have to be unpredictable with their scares. Attacking the same way gets less and less effective every time, you see, and that's something you should know. A lot of animatronics tend to forget to take other routes and keep trying to scare the same way, but the truth is that you need to mix it up to keep your opponent on their toes."

"Good tips, I guess."

"Thanks. Would you like a second go at this?"

"Yeah, that attempt was pretty weak, so I'm going to take another shot at this. You count again."

Foxy nodded and turned to face the wall again, once again counting down from ten. When he turned around, Puppet was gone from the hall again. Foxy, wanting to see if he could still win, set off to find Puppet.


Several minutes passed after this. Foxy came over to the entrance to the small hallway, having been in the main room: he had made the mistake of checking the main room to see if Puppet had decided to run over there, but he hadn't found Puppet anywhere over in the area he checked. And, after some thought, this made sense to him; Foxy had not counted for very long, so Puppet would not have been able to get very far from the position he had been in before Foxy had started counting again.

But as Foxy approached the small hallway, he saw it: Puppet was standing dead ahead at the center of the big hallway, which Foxy could see from the other side of the small hallway. Puppet was looking around the hall, peering left, then right, then back again, keeping an eye out for Foxy. And, luckily enough for Foxy, he was not looking in Foxy's direction.

Foxy couldn't even conceal his grin. Once again, opportunity was knocking, and it was the courtesy of a master-class animatronic to answer...Foxy considered himself master-class, anyway. He was good at scaring, at least, so that was something.

This time, Foxy decided to approach differently. Instead of sneaking up towards Puppet, he decided to take more of a brute-force approach and see if he could run up to Puppet at full speed and still manage to scare him with the same effect as before.

So Foxy ran, going at top speed as he went down the small hall, right up to Puppet, and leaped at Puppet, making his same terrifying screaming noise again. Puppet, predictably, jumped back from Foxy, and then looked quite peeved.

"Hey, wasn't it supposed to be my turn?!" Puppet asked.

"I know it was, but aren't you forgetting what I said?" Foxy replied in a triumphant tone. "We can both scare each other during every round! It just depends on who gets there first- and in this situation, that was me!"

"I still say that's cheating."

"It isn't."

"It is."

"It isn't."

"It is."

"It isn't."

"It is!"

"Okay, okay, we're not going to get anywhere if we keep arguing! Here, how about this: I'll give you another chance to prove yourself. Let's do one more round where I count, and we'll see if you can get me this time."

"Fine! But if you try to cheat again, I might have to take some drastic measures against you!"

"It wasn't cheating, alright? I just scared you."

"Then...how about you don't try to scare me this time?"

"Sure, sure, I'll give you an easy round. I won't try to scare you this time; it'll all be up to you."

"Promise?"

"I promise. Let's get to this."

For yet another time, Foxy faced the wall, counted down, and turned back to see Puppet missing from Foxy's sight. With another game on his hands, Foxy decided to try and make a random yet calculated approach: he had the sneaking suspicion that Puppet was hiding nearby, so Foxy went into the nearby auditorium and hid in the doorway. Moments later, he saw Puppet exit the boy's bathroom and start down the hallway in the opposite direction. Sure enough, Foxy was right.

Foxy got out from behind the doorway and began to tip-tope behind Puppet, keeping back at least a few feet from the marionette without getting any closer or further away from him. Foxy had planned this time to simply stay behind Puppet and follow him through the pizzeria, seeing how long Puppet would take before he finally realized that Foxy was there. It wasn't much, but since Foxy wasn't allowed to scare this time, it was enough of a trick to keep things interesting.

A few seconds in, Foxy winced in pain as he tripped over his right foot. His foot responded by activating his pain sensors, which sent a small jolt through Foxy's legs. Cursing inside his mind, Foxy kept his mouth shut as he clutched his foot irritably and hobbled on the spot. He made a bit more noise than usual, but thankfully for him, Puppet was so focused on heading forward that he did not react to it. Whether he had failed to hear the noise or whether he had but was ignoring it, Foxy didn't know, but at the very least he had managed to not pay for his mistake.

For another minute, Foxy continued to trail silently behind the lanky marionette ahead of him, who had turned into the small hallway and was heading down it. This charade kept up through the small hallway, and as the entered the main room, Foxy made yet another mistake.

He had been focusing on Puppet intently, so much so that Foxy's foot accidentally bumped into a nearby stool, causing it to slide forwards slightly. Foxy, in fear of being caught, quickly leapt behind the Christmas tree in the center of the room so that he would not be seen.

Puppet had been checking the bounce house when this had occurred. This time, the marionette seemed to have heard the noise, and he turned around and surveyed the room breathlessly. After a few seconds, Puppet narrowed his eyes and turned back around, heading forward again.

Dang it, why do I keep hurting myself?! Foxy thought, frustrated. I was doing so well before! What gives?! He seethed in anger for a moment, then took a breath in and tried to relax. It's alright, Foxy, don't lose your temper. You're better at scaring than this, okay? Just keep silent, and you won't botch this up.

Foxy followed Puppet again. Puppet was peering through the doorway of Foxy's room, looking inside of it for any signs of Foxy.

"Hmm, doesn't seem like he's in his room." Foxy heard Puppet murmured. "I should look elsewhere and see if he's-"

His sentence cut off as Puppet turned around and saw Foxy standing right behind him.

"Hi." Foxy said emotionlessly.

"Gah!" Puppet exclaimed, stepping backward.

Foxy raised an eyebrow in disbelief. How had he scared Puppet this time? He hadn't even meant to!

"What the heck? How did you get scared by THAT?" Foxy uttered in a doubtful manner. "I wasn't even trying that time. I was just standing behind you."

"Oh come, you definitely did try to scare me that time!" Puppet argued.

"I really didn't. In fact, I actually tripped a couple times while I was following you- no idea what you didn't hear me, Puppet. I was making quite the racket. So don't blame me just because you're not good at your job and didn't notice me."

Puppet shook his head sadly. "I don't think we can do this anymore. We're both scary, but you're scary in both looks and scaring. Me? I may have the looks, but I don't have the scaring in me. I guess it's just not my thing."

Foxy sighed. "I guess you were meant to scare people in a different way. Maybe in your own way."

"Really?"

"Maybe. You know what, actually? I think we should try it out on someone else. I'm a seasoned pro, so of course you wouldn't scare me very often, but there are other people we can scare. In fact, maybe you can try to scare the humans in this place. That's what animatronics are meant to do, right? Maybe you'll be good at doing that."

"Humans? What humans are you talking about?"

"The humans we have in our building right now! Dinah, Garbage, and Reggie. Remember them?"

"Oh, that's right! I forgot they were humans. I'm too used to being around fellow animatronics, like you."

"Yeah, so let's try it out. Let's go to Dinah first, since he's the closest to us. I think I saw him in the kitchen somewhere."

They went through the main room towards the kitchen, a new plan in their minds. Foxy had some hope this time; after all, humans were less prepared for scares than seasoned animatronics were, so he figured that Puppet would at least have a better chance of pulling off a scare this time around.

The kitchen was close, so they reached it in no time. Foxy opened the door and entered, leading Puppet inside. Dinah was not inside the kitchen itself, but from the break room, Foxy could hear noises, including someone talking.

"Oh my-a gosh! I have not seen a television in so long, per l'amor del cielo! This is my chance to finally watch some-a quality programming!"

"Alright, Dinah's in the other room. We'll be able to scare him if we barge in there and do our thing." Foxy explained, confident in his plan now that he knew where their target was.

"But who's going to go first?" Puppet asked.

"Weren't we planning on you going first?"

"I don't like that idea. You're just going to see what I'm doing and try to make it look better! I prefer that you go first, and that I try to follow what you do."

"Puppet, you're being ridiculous. I'm not going to try to one-up you like that, okay? Just go in there."

"Fine, then if we're both not agreeing on this, let's play rock-paper-scissors. Whoever wins gets to have their way."

"Sure, we'll do that. On three. One...two...three..."

"Rock, paper, scissors, SHOOT!" They both said, throwing out their picks at the same time. Puppet had rock, while Foxy had scissors.

"Hah, I win, which means that I go first!" Puppet laughed, and he began to walk for the closed door to the break room, but stopped mid-step. "Wait a minute, wasn't it-"

"-supposed to be me that goes first, since you won?" Foxy finished. "I mean, sure. Unless you want me to go first like you planned? It's kind of too late for that."

Puppet groaned. "No, no, forget the whole rock-paper-scissors thing. I'll just go first anyway." Puppet went over to the door. "Okay, once again, on three. One...two...Foxy, are you sure you don't want to go first?"

"Just do it already!"

"Okay, okay. One...two...three!" Puppet shoved open the door and ran into the room, going out of sight of where Foxy could see him. "BOO!"

"Woah! Oh, hello there, Mr. Puppet." Foxy heard Dinah say. "You entered quite suddenly. Was there something you needed? I cannot make the pizza right now, you know, I am trying to take a break."

"Uh...no, forget it. I'm just gonna...go."

Seconds later, Puppet ran back into the kitchen, shutting the break room door behind him.

"How'd it go?" Foxy inquired questioningly.

"Not very good." Puppet replied, sounding disappointed. "He didn't seem fazed all that much."

"Hmm...let me give it a try, then. I want to see if I can get a better reaction." Foxy moved over to the door himself. "One...two...three!"

Foxy pushed open the door and jumped into the room, landing in it and making his inhuman scream as he raised his arms and opened his faceplates.

"AAH!" Dinah screamed. The chef had been sitting on a chair he had pulled up from the table in the break room and had been watching tv, but upon Foxy's arrival, he stood bolt upright and moved backwards. "Mamma mia, Foxy, what was that for? Are you trying to get me to make-a pizza? I'm just taking a break, I'll get back to it in a few minutes-"

"No, no, it's fine!" Foxy reassured him, but he grinned triumphantly. "I was just testing something out."

"Well, test it out somewhere else!" Dinah moaned, sitting back down as if he was tired. "I do not like getting scared like that!"

"Yeah, alright. Sorry for the trouble, you can just go back to watching tv. Later, Dinah."

Foxy quickly backed out of the break room and closed the door as he left, leaving Dinah in there by himself.

"So you actually did it." Puppet said as soon as Foxy was there. "I've got to be honest: that wasn't very nice at all."

Foxy shrugged. "We're not meant to be nice to most humans, Puppet. All that matters is that we scare them and, if worse comes to worse, take them out entirely. Now, since you didn't do too well with Dinah...I've got it." Foxy stared at the garbage chute nearby. "We can scare Garbage next."

They went over to the chute, which was still closed.

"Ready?" Foxy asked Puppet.

"Yeah. Wanna do it at the same time, for maximum effect?" Puppet replied.

"Sure, let's both go at once. On the count of three, we open the chute door and scream down into it. One...two...three, GO!"

Just as Foxy forced open the chute door, he and Puppet leaned down and screamed into it, making their horrifying noises as they always did.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" A bloodcurdling scream echoed from inside the chute, Garbage's scream, sounding as if he had just woken up. Then Garbage panted loudly. "Oh...oh my god...wait, was that you guys up there?! You just...I just...why would you do that?! What's wrong with you animatronics?!"

"A lot of things, actually." Foxy admit fairly. "But that's not important! Point is, we GOT you! Were you scared by that?"

"My god, yes, you DID scare me, and I hate that you did that! Why would you scare me like that?!"

"Alright, we got him! High five, Puppet!" Foxy raised his arm invitingly.

"Right back at you!" Puppet accepted eagerly, and he raised his own arm, allowing the two to slap their hands together for a high five. The resulting clash and sound effect of metal against metal satisfied Foxy to a very great extent.

"What are you guys doing now?" Garbage moaned from inside the chute, sounded irritated.

"Oh, nothing important. We were just doing some stuff with you." Foxy replied. "See you later, Garbage!"

"Huh? Wait, but...oh, nevermind..."

Foxy closed the chute as quickly as he had opened it, preventing Garbage from hearing them as Foxy blurted out: "Heh, that was a good scare. You're improving, Puppet."

"Thanks." Puppet thanked Foxy, nodding.

"Anytime. Now, let's go and scare Reggie next; he's the only human left in this building that we haven't gotten to yet."

Puppet looked cautious. "Are you sure we're allowed to do that? I thought Ballora would be around to stop us from messing with him."

"No, she won't be. She's out somewhere right now, apparently. I went in there earlier to see if you were hiding in there and I talked to Reggie about it- he told me she was gone."

"Oh, well, then we should be alright. Is there any doubt that she's off playing games with Baby?"

"Nope, none. Ballora's been spending a lot of time with Baby recently, as far as I've seen, so I definitely do think that's why she's out today."

"Alright, then let's go see Reggie, then. Lead the way."


They had already left the kitchen and passed by the closet when Foxy decided that he needed to check something.

"Wait a minute, Puppet. Let me check something." Foxy told the marionette, and then Foxy went over to the closet and went in to check if a certain someone was in there at this time. "Freddy, are you in here?" But, as he peered into the closet, he saw that Freddy wasn't inside. He did hear something that sounded like snoring coming from above, though, so Foxy looked upwards at the ceiling, where he knew that the room above the closet was, and cupped his hands over his mouth. "Freddy! Hey! Me and Puppet are doing some things together! Want to come out and join us?"

"...zzz...five more minutes..." Foxy heard Freddy mumble in a drowsy manner from the other side of the ceiling.

"Five more minutes? Freddy, come on, just come out already!"

"zzz...zzzz...heh heh...chicken..."

"Fine, fine, I get the message. I'll leave you to your sleep." Foxy closed the closet and turned to face Puppet. "Wow, Freddy still doesn't want to come out."

"Come to think of it...Freddy has been asleep in there for a while, hasn't he?" Puppet brought up. "Why's he sleeping for so long?"

"I don't know, maybe he's in hibernation? Or maybe he has a fever or something."

"Fever? We're animatronics, how do we get fevers?"

"Good point. Fever is the wrong word to use, actually- the only way we could get 'sick' is if we overheated our systems and needed to cool down, or if a virus took us over and weakened us in some way. Whatever the case, we should just leave Freddy be until he's ready to come out. Oh, and we should give him some chicken noodle soup, too, because he seems to be dreaming about chicken in there."

"That's Freddy for you!" Puppet exclaimed in a flamboyant manner, and he and Foxy shared a round of laughs.

"Good one, Puppet." Foxy chuckled as he finished roaring with laughter. "Now, let's go and get to Reggie, like we planned."


After a minute of walking, they arrived at the doors to Ballora's room. Staying out of sight of the door's windows, Foxy grabbed the knob and quietly pushed the door open. He was not noticed by Reggie, thankfully enough: Reggie was in there, his eyes closed, seeming deep in thought, and he had not noticed the door opening.

"Okay, we're in position." Foxy reported to Puppet. "Let's swap turns this time. I'll go first, and then you go after me."

"Wait, we should get closer to him first." Puppet responded. "We won't be able to effectively get him if we're so far away."

"Where should we go, then?"

"The right corner of the room, I say."

"Good enough. I'll go first, follow after me."

Foxy tiptoed into the room, Puppet staying close behind him, and they entered the room without alerting Reggie. Silently as they could, they sneaked over to the right-most area of the room, behind a corner where Reggie would not be able to spot them.

"Did he see us? I wasn't looking at him." Foxy asked Puppet.

"No, no, he still had his eyes closed. He doesn't know we're here yet." Puppet explained.

"Okay, thanks for telling me that. Now, as we planned, I'll go first, then you next. On the three count, I'll run up there and get him. Three...two...one...go!" Foxy jumped out from behind the corner, and made his screaming noise.

"Hmm?" Reggie muttered, his eyes coming open, and he spotted Foxy standing there, looking ready to pounce. "Oh, hello again, Foxy. Strange of you to approach me like that, but I'm not mad. What do you need this time?"

Foxy gaped at Reggie. "I...really? Really?"

Reggie raised an eyebrow. "What? Did I do something offensive?"

"Nevermind, nevermind, I was just being stupid. Bye, Reggie."

"Oh, uh...later, then."

Foxy made to leave, but he checked over his shoulder to make sure Reggie had closed his eyes again before he leaned over and said to a nearby Puppet: "That didn't work very well at all. I'm going to leave the room so I don't compromise your position; you try and get him."

Puppet nodded, and Foxy continued to walk out of Ballora's room until he was behind the room's doors again, but with one door still ajar, he stood at the windows and watched Puppet from a safe distance.

"One...two...three!" Puppet said, and he jumped out from behind the corner and rushed at Reggie, making the screaming sound.

Reggie opened his eyes again. "Oh, hello, Puppet. Anything you need? No idea why you just yelled at me- seems pretty similar to what Foxy did earlier- but I'm alright. What's up with you?"

"Um...nevermind, I have stuff I need to do." Puppet lied awkwardly.

"Okay, then. Later."

"Later."

Puppet quickly came out of the room, Foxy closing the door behind the marionette as Puppet said: "I didn't have much success either."

"I know, I saw that attempt." Foxy informed him. "Man, he wasn't fazed by either of us. He definitely lives up to his security guard name, I guess."

"Yeah, you're right. He's really good at his job...maybe a bit too good. What's he protecting in there, anyway?"

"Probably the toys and skeletons and other stuff that belongs to Ballora."

"Sounds about right. We should ask Reggie the next time we see him."

"Definitely, but we'll leave that for later. Let's go and do something else instead."

They walked away from Ballora's room and strolled away to another area of the building.


"So, can we agree that the endgame of this was that I won?" Foxy suggested, grinning. They had went back into the main room and had come to a stop right in the middle of it.

"Wait, what?" Puppet stuttered. "Hey, we didn't come to an agreement on that! You haven't won yet!"

"No, I definitely won. I managed to get a successful scare more times than you, and you know it."

"You know what? I'm not ready to admit defeat yet, so let's have another round, but like we did yesterday with our other game, let's add a new rule."

"Like what?"

"Like...like setting a restriction that prevents us from leaving this one room."

Foxy considered this for a moment. It would make his job harder if he had to stick to a single room instead of hiding in other rooms, but on the other hand, he wasn't about to turn down a challenge. He knew that the true type of scary animatronic would be able to scare anyone from anywhere.

"Fine, I accept that." Foxy agreed after he finished considering. "Who's going to go first, then, if we're playing it like this?"

"You can go first, Foxy."

"So I hide and you count?"

"Yep. Go on and hide somewhere."

Puppet turned to the pillar that was in the center of the room and faced it, beginning to count down from ten. Foxy, instead of scrambling to find a hiding spot, simply stood right behind Puppet, smirking as he formed a plan in his mind, and waited. He knew that Puppet wouldn't expect him to hide there.

"Three...two...one...ready or not, here I co-" Puppet began, but just as he turned around...

Foxy jumped at Puppet, making his screaming noise mere milliseconds after Puppet had turned around. Puppet, predictably, jumped back with fright. His scream this time was, perhaps, even louder than it had been before.

"What the heck, Foxy? You weren't hiding anywhere!" Puppet complained, looking annoyed. He had his hand over his chest.

"I was hiding...that is, in plain sight." Foxy answered, nodding in approval of his own strategy. "Don't you know that turning your back on an animatronic is the worst thing anyone could do? You left yourself vulnerable, so I took my chance when I got it."

Puppet breathed in and out, looking tensed. "Man, that was...you gave me a metallic heart attack, Foxy...oh my goodness..."

"Hah, must've been a pretty good scare if you're this excited. I got you good, didn't I?"

"Yes...I mean, no...I mean, I don't know! I still think it was cheating to just stand behind me instead of actually hiding somewhere."

"How is it cheating, Puppet? You said we could hide anywhere in this room, so I hid behind you. Simple as that. Now, it's time for me to have my turn. See if you can get me."

Foxy turned towards the pillar himself, faced it, and began to count down from ten. Once he finished...

Foxy, on your right. The voice said from inside his mind.

Foxy looked to the right, and, just a second later, Puppet jumped out from behind the pillar and landed at Foxy's right.

"Boo!" Puppet yelled, raising his arms.

"Uh...hi. I saw you there." Foxy told Puppet, giving him an unimpressed look. "Good try, I guess."

"Aw, what?! Okay, that was a bad attempt. Count down again."

Foxy groaned loudly. "Ugh, fine. I'm giving you a lot of extra chances, Puppet, so you'd better show some improvement. I'll give you 5 seconds to prepare this time."

Foxy faced the pillar again, counted down from five, and...

He's on your left this time. The voice alerted him, once again chiming in from inside his head.

Foxy looked to the left, and a second later, Puppet jumped out from the pillar and landed on Foxy's left side instead.

"Boo!" Puppet repeated, raising his arms yet again.

"Oh, wow, I'm so scared!" Foxy said sarcastically, not ecstatic to see Puppet's lack of effort in scaring.

"Yes, I got you!"

"What do you mean, got me? I was being sarcastic."

"Wait...oh, you were being sarcastic! What?!"

"Yeah, you didn't get me this time either."

"This isn't fair! I mean...you knew where I was going to pop up seconds before I did! You have to be cheating somehow. Do you have extra eyes or cameras inside your head? Because I'm starting to think this is more like two versus one!"

"No way!" Foxy denied.

"Definitely not! I wouldn't help this loser of a fox, even if it was the last thing I did!" The voice claimed.

Then from inside his head, he heard it say: Appreciate the support, Foxy? With my help, there's no chance he could scare you. We got him good.

"No! Shush about helping me!" Foxy commanded. "Oop, uh...you didn't hear that."

"You're talking with that voice about helping you!" Puppet spotted, alert. "See, I knew it! This IS a two versus one game!"

"Hey, you're getting the wrong idea. Listen closely, okay?" The voice started. "I can only see out of Foxy's eyes, nowhere else."

"Yeah, that's exactly it." Foxy agreed, trying to keep his cover from being blown.

Puppet flinched, looking momentarily off-put by something...but he quickly snapped back and said: "Well, you could still help him, even inside his mind! You know how when people look in certain directions, there's stuff in their peripheral vision that they can't really see? You, you weird voice thing, are probably looking in those areas and seeing what Foxy isn't!"

"No, that's not how it works!" Foxy denied, although he knew that was probably exactly how it worked. "The voice probably has to see in the same directions as me. No way can it look in other directions."

Puppet scowled, but then shrugged in confusion. "Well, I don't know. I have no clue how your head works, Foxy."

"To be fair...half the time, I don't know either."

"Neither do I."

"Neither do you? That's an incredibly weird combo of answers."

"Nevermind that, I want a fair rematch." Puppet demanded. "Give me one last try. If I win, I win. If I lose, I don't get to have any more shots at scaring you."

"Fine, one more go. But after that, no more. Also, I recommend you don't hide near me; otherwise, you won't be able to make it work." Foxy turned to face the pillar for the third time, counted down from five, and turned to face the room. This time, Puppet didn't pop up from either side of the pillar.

Great, he's actually hiding this time. Now I have to try. Foxy sighed inside his head, but he wasn't going to complain much more than that. Animatronics always had to put in effort to pull off a perfect scare or to find a victim who was hiding.

Foxy then started to look around the room. After a minute of searching, it was when Foxy passed by the front doors and went to peek into his room that he saw something in the corner of his eye: something behind a balloon stand in the corner.

Foxy paused and turned around to look at the balloons before anything could happen, but he was a split-second too late. Before he could figure out what was happening, Puppet jumped out from behind the balloons and did the screaming noise.

"Gaah!" Foxy yelped, finally caught off-guard. "Dang it! Okay, you got me that time, Puppet. I could've reacted to you, but I saw you hiding there in the corner of my eye and I reacted too late."

"Yeah, I was behind those balloons the whole time. I'm glad I was able to get you." Puppet laughed, looking pleased.

"Good job. Since you improved so quickly, actually, I'm willing to say that we're even this time. Sure, I pulled off a lot more scares than you, but since you pulled off such a turnaround yourself, we can say we tied."

"Thanks, Foxy. At least I'm not a cheater, unlike some bears that I know."

"I'm a fox, Puppet!"

"I know, I know, I was only joking. Since you're being so fair to me, I think I can overlook any cheating you may have done."

"Thank you, Puppet. I know cheating like that was lame, but it's nice to know that you're willing to forgive me for it."

"Hey, it's no sweat. We're cool, right?"

"Definitely. Now, since we're done scaring each other, I say we move on to a different task. In fact, I think we should try scaring Ballora and Baby. Since we know where they are, and they don't expect us to scare them, we can pull off a really effective scare on them."

"Uh...okay, then, I guess we can do that. We'd better not do anything too drastic, though, or else scaring them might lead into trouble."

"We do have to be careful with this scare, now that I think about it. If we go too far, we might end up provoking their wrath instead of simply scaring them. But hey, it may not be easy, but for us, it doesn't have to be! Come on, let's go and give this a try!"

And so Foxy and Puppet ran out of the main room and down the big hallway, heading in the direction of their new targets. Foxy, now that he and Puppet were working together, felt excited, even optimistic about this scare. Things may have quieted down around the place, but Foxy knew that he would spice things up. The scare to come, as well as much more, would carry him through these otherwise boring days...