What should I put here in this room, now that I've got an empty space to work with? A couple of chairs to sit in would do...oh, and a fireplace against this wall, too! I've always liked fireplaces.

Foxy was spending today deciding what he wanted his front room to look like, which was the room that his cove was in. It was completely empty save for the posters on the walls, which gave Foxy the chance to decide what to do with it if he ever decided to decorate it. Puppet's design had not been too favorable for him. The paintings were okay, but the stools and crates weren't his style.

So now he was thinking of what the front room would be if he decided what it would look like when decorated. Foxy was mostly doing so because of the fact that his back room was still closed off, yet unfinished by Puppet, who continued to take more and more time to finish it. If he was going to take so long, Foxy decided, then Foxy would take matters into his own hands and just plan out the look of a different room that he owned instead.

What else, what else? I could do whatever I want with this room, and there's so many options. Foxy thought, excited at his plans. Maybe some new paintings around the place, except this time, I get to pick what they look like! And a bear skin rug would be nice, too. I've always liked the idea of having one of those.

Makes me wonder if I could get one that looks similar to Freddy. Imagine the reaction I'd get when he sees it! Ah, pranks. They sure would make this place more exciting. As well as that, I'll have to install a new chicken coop for Gregory, too, since I'll probably have to go back to taking care of him once I find him again. Bon-Bon won't be too happy if I don't make sure to give Gregory a place to stay.

What else is there? Hmm...ah, I know! Lighting! The lightbulbs work fine, but maybe I could get some fancier lighting to get a better atmosphere in here. Maybe even a color-changing lights for parties! And I could use a downstairs, too; maybe if I figure out how to break down a wall somewhere here, I can get more space.

Foxy chuckled and laughed at his own ideas. It felt refreshing to think of his own ideas for his room, instead of leaving everything up to Puppet. The marionette was a good friend, but his ideas of what a good house looked like always clashed with Foxy's own ideas.

Wow, I've got so many good ideas. I never needed Puppet to do all this after all. I could do it perfectly well on my own. No offense to him, but I wish he'd use my plans instead of his. My room will look great if I can ever get around to decorating it! Although...what if this place opens? What will the kids think of my room? Will the company take action or punish me? Erm...eh, no, it's probably fine. This place doesn't seem like it's ever going to open, and it's not like the company bothers to control what me and my friends do here. I shouldn't be too worried. Besides, if the kids do come, they'd probably really like it!

Foxy felt sure about this. Back in the old place he had lived in, Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, he once saw a survey conducted by the company where they asked the customers who their favorite animatronic was. When night came, Foxy had been able to check the list, and lo and behold, he was the most popular. That had boosted his confidence by a lot, thinking about all the people who thought he was great (and it had also been an excuse to gloat to everyone else all day long, which had resulted in many heated arguments.)

"Oh, yes, Foxy, that would certainly be good. Just think of all those kids, loudly shouting about how much they love you, about how you're their favorite...boosts your ego by a big margin, doesn't it?"

Foxy scowled. Are you being condescending to me?

"Of course not, Foxy! We're friends, aren't we?"

Tch, in your dreams. If I had a friend like you, I wouldn't need an enemy.

The voice giggled. "Such aggravation! Well, why not include me? I could give you some very good tips on how to properly decorate this room."

It's MY room, voice. I'm the one who gets to decide what it looks like. Nobody else needs to have a say in it, especially not you.

"Oh, come now! It wouldn't hurt to let me give just the teensiest bit of, shall we say...guidance, on how your room should look. Are my ideas not good enough for you?"

Yeah, they aren't. And that doesn't even begin to cover the reasons why I wouldn't let you have your input here.

"But there are so many good things we could do in this room! You're pink, aren't you? Maybe we should make this red, white, and yellow wallpaper closer to resembling your coloration!"

No! I'm only pink because that's how the suit looks. I don't want pink in my room!

"You sound so heated. Did I press a few of your buttons by accident? Well, in that case, why not add a dresser with a three-paneled mirror? It would give you the perfect place to do your little makeup things!"

I'm not a girl, voice! Stop trying to confuse me! And no, I'm not putting that in here. That's too much of a Ballora-esque thing to put in here. It's not my style.

"Fine, fine, then let us go into animatronic territory. Why not a setup that could work as a repair station? Not only could it be good for fixing any problems, but we could easily shine ourselves."

Shine ourselves? What does that even mean?

"That we clean your suit, of course. You're metal, so wouldn't you want to look nice and shiny?"

I mean, uh...I guess, but that feels like a weird thing to put in the front room where everybody's walking around. I don't think that works.

"Who cares what your loud, hyperactive friends think, Foxy? It would make sense if only you considered it and installed it, I say. After all, being presentable is important when you're dealing with some very intricate matters..."

Uh...okay? Well, you keep those ideas to yourself, and I'm going to stick with my own ideas, if you don't mind...not that I'd really care whether or not you minded. Foxy paused thinking for a moment. It felt weird talking to the voice, he had to admit. I can't believe I'm talking to the voice inside my head like this. It almost feels like I'm having a conversation with myself, or some kind of imaginary being. What a weird thing to do. It almost makes me think I might be getting crazier every moment.

"Well, you are getting crazier every moment. It's not a lie."

Stop it. I'm not that crazy, I'm just a bit more unique than humans are.

"Hmph, I suppose that personality doesn't matter if you're dealing with humans...no matter, no matter. Just continue with your little decorating scheme, or whatever it is you plan to do. Oh, and, by the way, I must ask...what was that you were muttering about last night?

Muttering? About what?

"It was something about collecting body parts, as I heard. Sounds very interesting to me. It seems similar to my own goals..."

Huh?

"Nevermind. It'd just be great to have a body again, wouldn't it? I'm so sick of living inside your robotic endo-skull."

Tough, then, because you're staying there. You're not to be trusted with a body, so even if I hate doing it, you're going to stay inside my head...whether you like it or not.

"So convinced you can keep me trapped here forever, it seems. Oh, but things change, Foxy. I'm not content to stay trapped inside your head for the rest of my days."

Too bad. Foxy focused for a moment, and by using his brainpower, he managed to push the voice out of his thoughts. There, the voice is gone. Now, back to figuring out what to put in my room! A couch and a tv, for sure. I'll want to be able to watch shows on cable tv or Netflix whenever I want to. Having a couch will also give me extra room, in case I want to invite anyone over for a marathon or something, so that'll be good. And I could also add-

"Woah!" Foxy exclaimed. He had turned around to face the doorway leading out of his room, and leaning into the room was both Puppet and Ballora. "Um...hello there, guys. What's up?"

"Oh, uh...hey there." Ballora greeted quietly. She was looking more towards Puppet.

Puppet was giving Foxy a suspicious and very serious look. "Foxy, I saw that look in your eye. We came in and heard you muttering to yourself, too. And you're staring around at your room...you're not thinking about trying to decorate or renovate this room, are you?"

I was muttering? Foxy thought. Dang it, I must've been speaking out loud without realizing. Why didn't I notice that? Nevermind, it's already too late to take that back. I need to defuse this situation before it gets out of control.

"Uh, no, not at all!" Foxy denied. "I was just, uh...thinking! Yeah, thinking about what I would do today and inconspicuous stuff like that."

"Foxy, I know what you're trying to do. And you need to know that I have the rights to this room- I secured them after I got myself into the position as the chief renovator of this room."

Foxy did a double-take. Puppet, having the rights to his room? "Excuse me? No, you can't possibly have the rights. This is supposed to be my room, not yours."

"It is, but I have the paperwork for it." Puppet articulated slowly and sternly. He pulled out a small stack of a few pieces of paper that was stapled together and had lots of typed words on it: the exact look of a legal document.

"What?!" Foxy exclaimed. "You...you actually do have the rights?!"

"I do, Foxy. This is serious, not a joke. Did you think that I was playing some kind of game when I said I had the rights to this room as chief renovator? Know that I take my line of work very seriously, Foxy. And I don't appreciate you trying to interfere with it."

Foxy felt himself twitch a little. This was an unimaginable situation: he knew that Puppet was actively trying to renovate his room, but the marionette had the rights to the room?! How did that make any sense? Renovators shouldn't have been able to just get the rights to the room just because they wanted to change some things about it. Puppet, however, looked dead serious. In fact, he looked so much so that it made Foxy feel a little concerned. Puppet was his friend and all, but he seemed to be making a very big deal out of this renovation stuff. Foxy had always thought Puppet had done so in a friendly manner, and not like an authoritative businessman. Yet, here he was, firmly dictating the terms to a room he didn't even own. With how surprising and out-of-left-field the situation was, Foxy was half-convinced that it had just randomly fallen out of the sky.

"Really? And you even have the paperwork?" He repeated, trying to mask the anger in his voice with difficulty. "Oh, how swell. Mind if I see it for just a second?"

"No. It's private." Puppet refused. "And even if I lost this copy, I have tons more copies. The legal statements aren't being removed."

"Uh...uh...hey, guys, look at this! A bottle of water!" Ballora quickly cut in, pulling out said bottle. "Isn't that nice?"

Foxy could tell that Ballora was trying to lighten the mood, but he didn't need that right now. "Ballora, unless you're going to use that water and pour it on the paperwork, I don't need to hear about it right now."

"Sorry, I'm not doing that. I got this to drink." She answered, and she drank the contents of the bottle down. "Ah, very good! My sensors detect...100% water? Gee, I guess that's all it was made of. Oh well, it still was refreshing to process."

"So...you guys heard me muttering under my breath?" Foxy asked begrudgingly, and was unhappy to see both Puppet and Ballora nod. "Of course you did...how much did you hear, then?"

"Enough, I'd say, to understand what was going on." Puppet replied.

"Pretty much." Ballora agreed. "We definitely heard enough to get Puppet over here all worked up over the whole 'decorating without permission' thing. And to launch into the explanation of how he owns the room, and pull out the paperwork, yada yada...basically, everything that just happened."

"Yes, it was sudden, too. We were just minding our own business in the main room, talking to each other about the weather and such...and then we walked by your room and heard you muttering. You've always got to do something every day, don't you?"

Foxy just shook his head. "Of course that's the argument. All I do is make trouble and cause new problems, is that right? I've always got to be the scapegoat for problematic stuff, apparently. Great."

"Oh, forget about that. There's actually something else on our minds that we want to talk to you about." Ballora said. "We've been wondering, lately, about your voice. It seems a bit...different."

Foxy tilted his head to the side as he heard this. "Different? What's different about it? It sounds the same as ever to me." He grinned. "Don't you hear it right now? Doesn't it sound like it would fit with a pirate voice if it was just a bit different? Arrgh! Yeah, see? I was meant to be a pirate fox back at the last place, so I've still got it."

"No, no, not that. The other voice." Puppet corrected. "Every once in a while, Ballora and I have heard this other thing coming from you...and we're a bit concerned."

"Oh! Are you talking about ME?"

Puppet flinched slightly, and Foxy saw him falter for a second, but he quickly righted himself. "Oh, right. That thing."

"Yeah, that one. That girlish voice we heard just now." Ballora confirmed.

"What? No, it doesn't have anything to do with anything!" Foxy stuttered. "It's just, uh...a mystery thing."

"I'm no mystery, I'm real! Hello out there! How are you, hmm?"

Shut up! Stop revealing yourself to them! Foxy thought furiously.

"I think not!"

"Well, I do, so stop it!" He shouted out by accident as he pushed the voice out of his central mindscape again, before realizing that Ballora and Puppet were still standing right next to him. "Oh, um, I mean...don't worry about that. It's nothing to be concerned about."

"That's the thing, though. We are concerned about it." Ballora said. "We're worried about you, Foxy."

"We don't know for sure, but whatever that thing is, it doesn't seem okay." Puppet added. "What is it?"

"Absolutely nothing!" Foxy continued to deny. "It was just, uh...me making up a new voice! Sounds weird, right? Perfectly normal for people to make up new voices!"

"It doesn't sound like you're making up that voice, Foxy. Your mouth doesn't move when it speaks. So that brings up the question...are you a bear, or a fox?"

"Are we seriously doing this again? Guys, you already know that I'm a fox!"

"I don't know, you seem too bear-like..." Ballora uttered, and Foxy could hear her trying to stifle her giggles.

"I'm a fox!" He insisted. "I know you guys like doing this dumb joke, but I don't! Quit it!"

"Okay, okay, we were just kidding. We know you're a fox. What we were actually wondering is..." Ballora paused, looking a bit reluctant. She turned to Puppet. "Puppet, should we just ask him straight out?"

"Yeah, no beating around the bush. Let's get to the point of why we're here." Puppet decided, nodding.

Oh, boy. What could they possibly be wanting to ask now if they have to consider it before they ask? Foxy wondered. He wasn't sure what they were about to ask him, but it didn't sound like it would be a simple, easily answered question if Ballora and Puppet had to agree on asking it first. With this in mind, Foxy readied his wits and possible counterarguments for any assumptions, as he knew he had to be prepared.

"So, Foxy...are you a boy...or a girl?" Ballora questioned.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Foxy exclaimed. His gender was being questioned? Now Foxy knew exactly what he was getting into. Still, his mind quickly made a counter-accusation for him to use. He had heard this line from the internet, and while it was dumb to say, he knew it would be a good way to counter Ballora's question. "Hey, wait a minute! You're not assuming my gender, are you?"

Ballora gasped. "I, uh...of course I'm not! I would never, ever do such a thing! I am a fair person, and as such, I am open-minded and accepting to all kinds and types of people, including whatever their gender may be."

"Yeah, me too. This isn't about assuming your gender." Puppet clarified. "We're just curious about whether you're a boy or a girl. That's all."

Foxy sighed. "I should've known you guys would ask me something like this...alright, what made you start this? Is it the way I look? Come on, guys, I know I have pink in my coloration, and I have nails and all that...but this wasn't my choice. This was the suit that was forced upon me when I was switched to the Funtime model! It may look feminine, but I'm actually a boy on the inside, okay? And I may be pink and white in coloration, but there's nothing wrong with being a guy and liking pink. In fact, I'm already used to this suit, so I don't even mind anymore."

Ballora looked at Foxy thoughtfully. "Hmm...well, even so, there are still other factors to take into account. That's why me and Puppet have decided to test you! We're going to ask you some questions. Puppet will represent the boy side, and I'll represent the girl side. Depending on the answers you give us, we'll be able to decide whether you're a boy or a girl."

Foxy just shook his head. "Oh, fine. I'll do this test, just to prove that I'm a boy."

"Good. I have a good plan in mind for how we'll set this up." Puppet explained. "Let's go to the main room. We'll do it in there."

They walked out of Foxy's room and into the main room, where Foxy followed the others up to the stage.

"Sit down here." Puppet said, pointing at one of the stools at the table that was nearest to the stage.

"Okay." Foxy accepted, and he sat down on it.

"Ballora, over here." Puppet sat down on the edge of the stage, and Ballora hurried over and also sat on the edge of the stage. Then, Puppet pulled out two identical lists, each consisting of a few pieces of paper stapled together. "Alright, I've got the printed lists of things we'll be using. Ballora, here's your list. It has the girl section of things on it. I've got the list with the boy section of things for myself."

"Sure thing." Ballora agreed, taking her list from Puppet.

"Alright, then we're all set. Everyone ready?" Puppet asked, and everyone else nodded. "Okay, we're all good. Ballora, let's pick a random thing. I'll shuffle through my list, you shuffle through yours."

They sorted through their lists for a moment, going through the papers, and after a minute, they both nodded and turned to Foxy.

"Here's the first round of pictures." Puppet said. "My picture is...a football! Yours, Ballora?"

"Ballet shoes!" She reported.

"Good. Now, Foxy, out of these two things, tell us which one you like more."

"Uh...neither. I'm not fond of either of those two things." Foxy replied honestly. He didn't hate those things, but he had no interest in football or ballet.

"Hmm, well...this got tough." Ballora commented.

"Okay, okay, let me change the question, then." Puppet decided. "Which thing do you dislike the least?"

"The football." Foxy responded. "I'm not a football guy by any means, but if I had to play football, I guess I would. Even if I was terrible at it. On the other hand, ballet isn't really my thing. I'm not too much of a dancer to begin with, and since ballet is included there, I'm not into ballet either."

"Then that's your answer. That's one point for the boy side, AKA me."

Ballora looked a bit sour. "Already behind..."

Foxy observed their facial expressions and the words he heard started to ring louder to him. "Wait, this isn't turning into some kind of contest, is it?"

"Um, no. Definitely not."

"Well, it sure sounds like it, if Puppet is counting it for himself and you, Ballora, are getting all mad about being behind in points."

"It's just a coincidence. Nothing special at all."

"Let's keep going. Shuffle again." Puppet said, and he and Ballora shuffled through their lists again. "I've got my choice."

"And I've got mine." Ballora added, nodding.

"Want to go first this time, Ballora? We can take turns."

"Sure. So...hmm, this might be a weak one, but...oh, alright. Foxy, what do you think your voice sounds more like? Does it sound more masculine, or more feminine?"

"My voice is pretty pirate-like, as you can hear, and it sounds masculine, so I'm going to say that it's more in the category of being a...boy." Foxy stated.

Ballora looked a bit excited. "Oh, did I hear a bit of hesitation there?"

"Yeah, are you meaning to say that you're a girl?" Puppet questioned, grinning.

"No, no, I'm a boy. A boy pirate, to be exact." Foxy corrected quickly. Of course he made the mistake of hesitating. The truth was, he wasn't entirely sure that he was a boy, but he called himself a boy anyway because it felt right to do so. Also, back when he had his old suit, he had never had such a problem; everyone had called him a boy without question. But now that he had a different suit, everyone suddenly wanted to think he was a girl? What was up with that?

"Hmm...alright, only checking. That's another point for Puppet, then." Ballora said, frowning.

"Hey, wait a second! What about me? Why aren't I a factor? I'm not entirely sure whether I'm a girl or a boy, but you should at least include me in this-"

"No! Shush!" Foxy growled, pushing the voice back again.

Puppet raised a metal eyebrow all of the sudden. "See, there's that voice again..." He looked at Foxy for a moment. "...hey, now that I'm looking at you, I want to bring up the fact that you're pink. Now, this might come off as wrong- and I apologize if it does- but isn't it generally known that girls tend to like brighter colors, such as pink?"

"I dunno, that sounds wrong. It sounds too close to stereotypes."

"No, I think that's actually very correct. At least in my case, I tend to like brighter colors much more." Ballora admit. "And that includes pink."

"Yeah, see, Foxy?" Puppet went on. "Now, before you say anything, I do want to make it clear that there's nothing wrong with a boy liking pink. After all, we're free to like whatever color we chose, regardless of our gender. But, according to common knowledge, a good majority don't, which brings into question why you happen to be pink."

"Okay, I understand why you might question it, but that still doesn't change the fact that I'm just a guy who happens to like pink." Foxy countered. "I mean, I didn't like it when I first got this suit, but I've started to warm up to it. I think it's fine now." As he looked up at Puppet and Ballora, he noticed something he hadn't taken note of before: Ballora was wearing her Christmas sweater again. This made sense, of course, as it was still December and the time of the Christmas season, but he was reminded that the sweater was red and blue in coloration. He had to admit, it fit with Ballora's color scheme and looked good on her. Wanting to tell her this, he opened his jaw and said: "By the way, Ballora, I just noticed that you have your sweater on. Wanted to say that I think it looks good on you. The red and blue match your color scheme pretty well."

"Oh! Why, thank you very much!" Ballora thanked Foxy, looking cheerful, but she gasped and then switched to a suspicious expression. "Hey, wait one second! You just complimented me on what I was wearing! Boys don't do those types of things!"

"Wait, what?" Foxy stuttered. "Hey, come on! There's nothing wrong with giving someone a genuine compliment! I mean, we do it here to each other all the time. After all, we have to do something to balance out all the arguments and fighting we get into."

"Yes, that may be true, but you just complimented me by saying it 'looks good on me'! Girls would only make that type of compliment to other girls."

Foxy froze. Ballora was right, it was more of a girly thing to say such a thing. Boys could say such a thing too, but saying it to other girls would be a more flirty type of compliment. And as Foxy told himself all this, he felt a little off-put with that information. Was he wrong? Well, to him and the other animatronics, that was the way they felt, so for their case, it had to be right. "Uh...I..." He muttered, unable to find a counter to Ballora's argument.

"Looks like you've lost your rebuttal, Foxy." Puppet indicated. "Ballora has been proven right, so therefore, she gets one point for that."

"What?! Are you kidding me?! Come on, get serious! I was just trying to be a friend and say something nice! Why the heck is that somehow supposed to mean that I'm a girl?!"

And then Foxy saw it: a flash of a smirk across Ballora and Puppet's faces. He stopped for a moment. A smirk? But that could only mean...and then he remembered what a smirk meant, and he started to form an idea of what was going on. At that moment, though, he kept quiet, as he couldn't blurt out what he thought was happening without the others hearing him (which would only lead to more complications arising). Besides, he needed more evidence first.

"Let's keep going, then." Ballora decided. "Next on the list is...actually, before we do any of that, I need to say that...it's funny. Foxy, when I first met you and Freddy and Puppet and everybody, I remember being told that, back at one of the previous locations you were at, you were a girl? I can't remember correctly, but weren't you a girl?"

"Nope, you're thinking of someone else. I was never a girl at those other locations. In fact, I was much more like a boy." Foxy corrected her.

"Really? I swear I heard Freddy telling me about that or something..."

"Well, your memory must be incorrect. He was probably talking about this other animatronic that was there back then. She looked kind of like me, and was indeed a girl, but she wasn't me. Got it?"

"Somebody else? Who was there?"

Foxy paused. His memory banks were having trouble getting the information here, but he saw flashes in his mind's eye...

A row of sharp teeth...two eyes, wide and fearful...yelling and screams...

He winced, holding his head. He couldn't remember anything else, but he now felt very uneasy speaking about this other girl fox anymore. "I...don't want to talk about it. I can't really recall who she was, but for some reason...I just don't want to speak about her."

Ballora shrugged. "Okay, then, whatever you like. We'll just continue with the questions. Got anything else you want to ask Foxy, Puppet?"

"Indeed I do." Puppet answered surely. He examined his list for a moment. "Here's my next question. Foxy, what do you like more out of these two things: pink pirate ships...or blue tea parties?"

Foxy shuddered a little. A PINK pirate ship? That had his pirate side cringing. And he wasn't into tea parties to begin with, so a color change didn't matter to him anyhow. And, as well as that, he started to understand even more what was going on.

"Okay, I can see exactly where this is going." He admit. "This is a trick question, isn't it?"

Neither Ballora nor Puppet answered. They just continued to stare at Foxy expectantly.

"Fine, fine, then let me think about this for a moment." He requested. Hmm...it seems like they're trying to catch me with something here. What should I say? I could say pink pirate ships, since I'm a pirate and ships are my thing, but if I choose that color, they'll get all suspicious again. On the other hand, while blue is more of a boy color, a tea party is a girl thing, and that'll get them on my case, too. Which one am I supposed to go with? Color, or activity? Which matters more?

"Anytime now, Foxy." Puppet said. "It seems pretty obvious to me what the answer should be."

"Me too. It's super obvious." Ballora agreed.

For them, at least... Foxy growled in his mind. "Um...well...I've thought about it, and I'll go with...a blue tea party?"

Another flash of a smirk across both of their faces. Inside his head, Foxy grimaced; he knew he had chosen the wrong answer.

"Oh, tea parties? Aren't those usually done by Ballora exclusively?" Puppet pointed out. "And she's a girl, so that's going to be another point to her."

"Dang it! I knew it was a trick question!" Foxy cursed. As he angrily thought of this, he realized that it had been a trick question and started to question if there had even been a right answer at all. What answer would he have gotten if he had chosen pink pirate ships instead?

"See, you must've thought of it in a certain way. When you discuss it, you must go down to the heart of the activity itself." Ballora explained. "Color is only just the outer appearance of it. If you want to come up with your real answer, you need to look deeper and think about how the activity itself works."

"Alright, I get it. Can we please move on to another question?"

"Okay, okay, we can move on. In fact, I have another one to ask you. Which do you prefer? Decorating or renovating?"

Foxy raised an eyebrow. "What's the difference between the two, exactly? I need to know before I answer."

"Glad you asked. Decorating is when you make something look better by adding extra stuff to it! Like good-looking items, good-looking images, and so on. However, when you renovate something, you restore something to a state of repair, commonly an old or outdated building of some sort. Basically, I decorate, and Puppet renovates."

"Renovate! I'm definitely the type to renovate!" He answered quickly.

Ballora gave him a look, and Foxy could tell she was thinking of something in particular. "But wait, didn't you say earlier that you wanted to decorate your room?"

"Huh?! Uh, you misunderstood me! I meant renovate, like how Puppet does!"

"That's not what word you used earlier, though." Puppet said.

"Right, so that makes me suspicious. Are you trying to change your answer on the fly?" Ballora questioned, smirking again.

"No, I'm not. That was my original answer! I'm a renovator." Foxy claimed.

Puppet and Ballora both looked at each other for a moment.

"Hmm...conflicting sides. Looks like we'll need to be fair with this one." Puppet articulated. "Ballora, what say you and I both get a point for this one?"

"I agree." She responded. "So that makes it three to three, is that right?"

"Precisely. Now, I say we ask one last question that will ultimately decide which gender Foxy truly is. Let's see which one is the best one."

They started to whisper to each other and check their lists over and over. Foxy leaned forwards, trying to catch a moment of their conversation, but they were talking too quietly for even his fox ears to hear.

Oh, great. He thought. Ultimately decide, huh? Then that means that they're really going to come up with something big for this last one. I need to make this answer count.

"Okay, we've got it. This will be a good one, so listen up." Puppet said. "Foxy, who do you like more? Freddy, or Chica?"

Foxy paused at that question. Instantly, his mind was thinking of a girlfriend-boyfriend relationship, and he was on guard. "Wait, wait, stop right there. Tell me in what way I'm liking them first."

"We don't need to go that intricate. Just answer the question."

"I...don't like either of them."

Puppet looked surprised. "Wow, Foxy, that's pretty cold. Which one do you dislike the least, then?"

"Okay, okay, I don't hate or dislike either of them. In fact, I think I like them both equally. They're both up there."

Puppet stood there for a moment. "Then let's say that, in a very specific scenario, you had to choose at least one to be higher than the other. Which one would you choose?"

"Be clearer. Do you mean as friends, or going on a date with them?"

"No, no, not dating. The relationship doesn't have to be that extreme or developed."

"But it has to be higher than a normal friendship, I'm assuming?"

"Correct. As in, you'd consider one of them your bestest friend over the other and everybody else. Out of the two, who would that be?"

"I think...Chica." Foxy answered, and this was an honest answer. Back then at the old location, he and Chica had been better friends than he'd been with Freddy or Bonnie or anyone else. That wasn't to say that neither Freddy or Bonnie were on good terms with Foxy, but Foxy had to admit that he and Chica understood each other better than anyone else in the building.

"Oh, so you're saying that, if you had the choice, you'd go on a tea party adventure with Chica?"

"Uh...Chica doesn't do tea parties. She's not into those things." Foxy answered. "And I'd know, because I knew her best back at the old place. She was more into other stuff...like cooking."

"Still, that doesn't change the fact that she's a girl. That's a point for Ballora!" Puppet declared, in a voice that made Foxy feel like it was forced.

Foxy jumped. "Wait, what?! Hey, don't be like that! I was answering honestly! Chica was the closest friend I had out of her and Freddy!"

"Then that makes all the difference!" Ballora said, grinning. "Looks like we'll be able to make a decision here!"

"No, no, stop right there! You guys never told me that that second 'do a tea party' part would be involved in the question! If I had gone with Freddy, what would it have been, then?"

"Probably some kind of cool bromance adventure." Puppet answered.

"This isn't fair at all! You didn't even bother telling me the second part until I had already chosen!" Foxy exclaimed.

"Too late now. The decision is that you're a girl! Well, Ballora, looks like you and I will know what to get him for Christmas now."

"Yes! Pink everything!" Ballora cheered.

"No! Stop it!" Foxy cried. "I'm a boy, and I'm not lying! I mean, come on, I even use the boys' restroom!"

"Hmm...that is true..."

"You're forgetting all the times I caught you going into the girls' restroom!" Puppet claimed. "And I sent the pictures to Ballora, so she knows too."

"That was an accident! Either it was unintentional, or I was tricked to go in there!" Foxy countered. "If I tricked you to go in there and sent pictures to Ballora, would that make YOU a girl?!"

"But what about the time you went in there while we were playing tag?" Ballora questioned.

"I was trying to escape you, and I thought it would be a good hiding spot! That doesn't make me a girl."

"Puppet's different, though. He wouldn't try to enter the girls' restroom."

"Do you know that for sure?"

"Uh...nevermind, that still doesn't change the fact that you walked in there on your own free will!"

"It's just because I don't care about it! After all, I'm an animatronic, and an animatronic has no true gender. The entire thing of an animatronic being a boy or a girl is just a farce when you get down to the roots of it. And since I'm so brave, I do deserve the title of Foxy the Pirate!"

"Hey, another thing. Isn't it true that exclusively girls give themselves cool titles?"

"Absolutely not. Boys do it all the time, too."

"But Puppet never gives himself titles like that."

"Yes, he does. You weren't there for the times when he gave himself titles. He told me himself: he calls himself the Puppet Master sometimes."

"Puppet Master?"

"Like I said, you weren't there."

"Uh...that name is just kind of...a name I used to have. I heard someone use it when I was created, and...that's as far as I remember." Puppet said.

"Wait, so Puppet was given that title when he was created, it seems. The whole 'Foxy the Pirate' title was made up." Ballora tried to reason.

"Actually, no, it was given to me at creation. They called me 'Foxy the Pirate Fox' in full." Foxy explained. "And I liked it so much that I keep using it today."

"But you hardly even qualify for a pirate anymore. Meanwhile, Puppet could still be the master of puppets!"

Foxy groaned and facepalmed. "My god, how far are you guys going to go to label me as a girl? I'm telling you, you've got it all wrong."

"No, we proved it! You're a girl!"

"I'm a boy, not a girl!"

"No, you're a girl! Just admit it!"

"I. Am. A. Boy."

"But we basically proved it! Whether you want to deny it, whether you want to act tough, we've proved that you're the other gender!"

Foxy saw the smirk flash across their faces once more, and he felt ready to explode. Why would they not just listen to him? Why wouldn't they stop trying to claim that he was a girl? Why did they keep smirking? Why were they so persistent? He was getting tired of it all, and he was getting more and more irritated. And he heard them stubbornly insist it, and he was seconds away from losing it.

"Sorry, Foxy. The facts line up." Puppet said, barely able to hide his smirk anymore. "Truth is, you are a gi-"

"SHUT UP!" He yelled at the top of his voice, losing all control. "BOTH OF YOU, SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTHS FOR ONE SECOND AND LISTEN TO ME! I AM A BOY, GOT IT? A BOY! AND I DON'T CARE HOW FAR YOU'RE WILLING TO GO TO PROVE YOUR STUPID IDEAS, BECAUSE I'M HERE TO SAY THAT YOU'RE WRONG AND YOUR ASSUMPTIONS ARE GARBAGE! STOP PUTTING WORDS IN MY MOUTH, STOP TRYING TO LABEL ME THE WAY YOU WANT, AND TAKE MY OPINION INTO CONSIDERATION! WHAT, IS THIS ALL SOME KIND OF FUN GAME OF 'LET'S ANNOY FOXY' TO YOU? WELL, HERE'S SOME GOOD ADVICE: QUIT IT! FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIVES, DROP THE SILLINESS, DROP THE GODFORSAKEN GAMES, AND BE SERIOUS FOR JUST ONE MOMENT OF YOUR EXISTENCE!"

A ringing silence followed these words.

"Good! Now won't you just...just..." He continued, but his rebuttal died at his throat. He looked his friends in the eyes, and he felt horrified at what he stared back at. Puppet was giving Foxy a look Foxy had never seen before: fear. He was afraid, and apologetic, and remorseful, even. There was no more pride or boastfulness, no more calm or complacency. For once in a long time, he looked genuinely sad. And Ballora...well, she wasn't nearly as complex, but he could see the tears at the corner of her eyes.

"I...I..." He stuttered. "Did I...say all that? I...guys, I didn't mean to..."

Puppet sighed and held up his hand. "No. We get it. We went too far this time." He looked at Ballora. "Ballora, don't get upset. We need to take responsibility for this. We were the ones who pushed him to the edge."

Ballora nodded. "Okay...you're...r-right..."

Puppet nodded. "Foxy, we were being dishonest with you. We had our head in the clouds and were so obsessed with what we were doing that we didn't stop to think of your feelings. I apologize."

"M-Me too." Ballora stuttered, nodding again. She wiped her tears and calmed down. "Okay, yeah, you're right. No more games. We'll just be honest." She looked at Foxy again. "It was a game. We made a bet, earlier today. We knew you were self-conscious about your gender and we were bored and...and..."

"...we made a poor decision." Puppet finished. "We made the decision to see how far we could until you snapped. At the time, neither of us thought it was serious. We were obsessed with making things interesting, and the only thought in our minds was to start with your gender."

"So...we made a bet. I bet that you would snap, lose it, and outright admit something to us."

"And I bet that you would stay cool, calm, and collected throughout the whole thing. However, we also wanted to spice things up, so...we rigged it. We rigged it so that our questions would force you to say stuff that would make you sound like you were admitting that you were a girl. We went slow at first, but after you got the first two on the boy side, we knew we had to start going harder, otherwise you would actually win.

"So we continued to twist your words, to deny your explanations, to act as if we were right and always right. All throughout that, I thought maybe you'd be able to take it. Maybe, just maybe, you'd stay calm and find a solution like you always do.

"And...well, look who was wrong." He let out a dry chuckle. "If you were going to snap, I thought I'd be ready and that it would be nothing. But...I never expected all that to come from you mouth. I never expected you to think all that."

"I...I see." Foxy muttered. His mind was stuck, as if in a hazy dream, trying to think over everything. "Guys, don't blame yourselves. None of us were ready for that. Heck, I don't even think I was ready for that. After all, when have our conversations or fights ever really escalated to serious levels?"

Puppet nodded. "Good point."

"I know I said to be more serious, but...if trying to demand that hurts you guys, then I don't want to be serious. Being fun and crazy and adventurous...all that stuff...it feels better, and I know you guys think that too. It's better to be funny and to squabble like friends then it is to think of all the seriousness there is in the world. So...forget what I said. Let's just do what we always do. The way I see it, as long as we don't go too far, then...nothing will ever be wrong with it."

They stood there in silence for a moment. Foxy could hear the crickets chirping outside. He didn't dare look at his friends in the eye again, as he was too busy in his mind, thinking about what he said, and promising himself something. He would never go that far if he didn't have to. He would never lose his temper unless there was no other choice. What mattered was keeping everyone happy.

"Uh...do you guys remember all that rapping I did back when we had our first and last karaoke night?" Ballora spoke up in a small voice.

"Yeah. Clear as day." Puppet replied. "What about it?"

"To tell the truth, I really enjoyed that. I've been working on rapping every day since then. I wanted to get good at it so I could come up with a good one, and then show it to you guys. Mainly you guys, though. I'm not too sure about Freddy; he might've forgotten about that day by now. I wouldn't know."

"Maybe. Wouldn't put it past him." Foxy responded. He grinned a little and let out a few chuckles. Then Ballora did. Then Puppet snickered.

Then they all burst out laughing, their mood improving at last. This felt much better than arguing: to just laugh and joke like good friends would.

"Hey, guys? Let's come to an agreement." Foxy spoke up. "From now on, let's not yell at each other the way I yelled at you guys. Let's try not to escalate things that high unless we absolutely have to. Let's also try to be happy unless it's the right time to be serious. Agreed?"

"Agreed." The other two said.

"About my rap, actually...do you guys want to hear it?" Ballora asked. "A little off-topic, I know, but ever since I started working on it, I've been excited to show you guys the progress I made. Now should be the time, since we've agreed on Foxy's gender and all that."

"I'm a boy, guys. Remember that." Foxy quickly spoke up.

Ballora and Puppet stared at him.

"We know you're a boy, but come on, we don't give up that easy." Ballora said. "I say we fill both gender bubbles in."

"Yeah, how about we leave it at 'undecided'?" Puppet proposed. "That'll be a nice middle ground, right?"

Foxy laughed again. "Okay, okay, sure. Just as long as we keep the gender debate in the realm of games rather than seriousness."

"Fine by me. That reminds me, actually...what about that voice we kept hearing? It didn't chime in at all during our questioning."

"You called? Greetings, animatronics! So sorry I couldn't attend your lovely little gender debate, but I was busy with...certain other tasks." It giggled, and suddenly, Foxy heard a bit of beeping inside his suit.

"Uh oh." He stuttered. "I think it might've gotten to something." System, show status report. He thought. In front of his eyes, a menu was pulled up, and he saw a diagram of his body. His torso was flashing while text read: Torso wiring interference detected. Disconnections: One. Please seek maintenance.

Engage self-repair programming. He thought, and looked back at his friends. "Yeah, it got to something, but I've got it under control."

"Got to something? What got to something? What did it get to?" Ballora questioned.

"Um...actually, nevermind, it's nothing to be concerned about. Anyways, your rap! Did you want to say it or not?"

She perked up. "Well, I..." She paused. "...no, no, I changed my mind. It's not ready yet. I'll show it later."

Foxy nodded. "No pressure. Do it whenever you're ready. Anyway, I think I'm going to head back to my room and be on my own for a bit. I won't do anything I'm not supposed to do."

"Alright, stick to your word." Puppet ordered. "Don't change anything in your room, please, unless I come and give you permission."

"Fine, fine. You really are serious about all this renovation stuff."

"I am. I try not to be harsh with you, but I have stuff planned for your rooms, so I don't want you to mess with anything, okay?"

"Right. See you guys later."

He walked away from them, waving as he left them behind, and went back into his own room. He stared around at it all again: he wanted to keep thinking about how he might change it, but this time without causing Puppet to get mad at him.

What to do in here? And that does bring up the question of where I'd get my furniture. He wondered. Maybe I could borrow some of Puppet's things from his room.

"I can hear you in there, Foxy. Why so focused on your room? After all, your friends seem mighty suspicious of you and I. Perhaps they have failed to learn our secret?"

Yeah, they don't know about you, and I'm certainly not going to tell them either. Not that they'd believe me anyway, but if they did, I wouldn't tell them first. Also, I saw what you did inside my suit. I'm warning you, don't mess with my wiring again. It's not for you to touch.

"Oh, but why would I care what you say? I'll be stuck if I don't take matters into your own hands. And even if no escape is available, it's just fun to watch you get worried about the things I do. One wire disconnection was fun! How about I do some more?"

How about you don't? Now go back into the mindscape where you belong and stay there. Yet again, he shoved the voice back into the corner of his mindscape. He was getting tired of having to continually push it out. While it wasn't hard to do so, he didn't like doing it. That was one thing he had to admit about the voice: it was persistent. It didn't give up after the first failure, or the second, or the third.

Still, he wouldn't let it any further. The memories of when it had taken control of his body were still in his mind. He had vowed that he wouldn't let it find a vulnerability in his systems ever again, and he intended to keep that vow.

But now that it was gone, he could go back to doing his normal things. He focused his attention back onto his room and he started to think more about what he would do with it, among other things. None of the plans he started to think of were set in stone, and he wasn't entirely sure that he would follow through with his plans at all, but it still felt right to brainstorm and to think about getting something done. Sure, Puppet wouldn't like him thinking about this kind of stuff, but if he didn't know, then it couldn't annoy him.

Simple as that.