Al-RIGHT! Time to start the new day!

Foxy yelled this in his mind, almost triumphantly, as he shoved his curtains open and stepped into his room. Another night had just began for him, and he was feeling very chipper for some reason he could not fully describe. He was just in an uplifting mood, feeling more confident than ever, and that was all there was to it. With this mood, he felt as if he could do anything. The nap he had went through last night had been excellent, for the most part, and that was what fueled most of his good mood.

That was a great sleep. Possibly one of the best ones I've had in a while, in fact. He thought cheerfully. Time to get up to another day of fun! I wonder what everyone's doing today. Maybe something new? Or it could just be the same old, same old. Either way, today sounds like a great today to do something exciting! Right, Mr. Wigglesworth?

I agree, it was a good sleep! Haven't had rest like that in a long time.

I'm glad we agree! It's nice to have you around, buddy, even if you're imaginary. Having someone like you to talk to makes this place more bearable for me. Anyway, time to get out and see what's going on today!

Foxy walked right out of his room and into the main room. It was empty, but he expected that: everyone would be in their rooms at this point in time. He was already planning to go and find them, every one of them, and see what they were up to. Maybe everyone would have free time to spend together today. With this plan in mind, he prepared himself to go find everyone else.

But before he could even move, something happened that had not happened in a while: the closet in the room opened, and Funtime Freddy came out, yawning as he walked into the main room.

"Ah, what a good round of sleep. That was the best round of hibernation I've had since forever." He yawned as he came in, his eyes closed. "I should've done that a long time ago."

Foxy froze in place. Was that Freddy? Was that really Freddy? "Wait...Freddy?" Foxy stuttered as he walked over to the bear.

"Hmm?" The bear opened his eyes. "Oh! Hey there, Foxy. Good to see you. How have you been doing?"

Foxy didn't respond immediately. He just stared at Freddy in disbelief, hardly able to believe his eyes. "Freddy...is that actually you? I'm not hallucinating or imagining things this time?"

Freddy gave Foxy an anxious look, then patted himself all over. "Uh, yeah, I think so. I'm as real as anything can be. Why do you ask?"

"Why do I ask? Why do I ASK? Freddy, you've been missing for weeks! Where have you been?!"

"Oh, I thought you would've known. I was off hibernating, like bears and other animals might do. I wanted to try sleeping through the winter, so I decided to go and do it."

"I figured as much. I kind of knew you were hibernating already, actually, so forget that I asked, but...come on, Freddy, don't you get it? We're animatronics. Robots. We don't really need to hibernate unless we're completely out of battery, and even recharging a completely empty battery doesn't take much more than a day or two of sleep. You were gone for weeks and weeks; that's way over one or two."

"Aw, don't be like that! Just because we don't need to doesn't mean that we can't! I was allowed to give it a try, so I gave it a try. Besides, don't we animatronics need regular sleep? You sleep a lot yourself, if I remember correctly."

"Yes, it's true that we need regular amounts of sleep to recharge, and it's true that I tend to take a lot of naps, but I've never stayed asleep for over two or three weeks straight! I make sure to get up every day and hang out with everyone else." Foxy sighed. "Nevermind any of that, though. You're a free spirit, so no matter what I say, you aren't going to get it and you really don't need to get it. You do you, I guess. No need to put two and two together on all this."

Freddy looked even more confused. "Wait, we're doing math problems now? You didn't say that! I thought this was about why I was asleep for so long."

Foxy groaned even harder. "Forget it, it's not important. What I really want to ask you is-"

But that thought never finished, as a loud, rough cough came from somewhere in the room. Foxy and Freddy jumped and looked around for the source of the disturbance.

"What was that just now?" Foxy asked, getting concerned at once.

"No clue. All I heard was-" Freddy began, but screamed suddenly. "A zombie!" He pointed at something at the other end of the room and hid behind Foxy. Foxy looked over and saw that the 'zombie' Freddy was yelling about was actually Puppet, slowly trudging towards them as if he was under the weather. He was making small groaning noises as he went.

"That's only Puppet, Freddy. Nothing to worry about." Foxy assured Freddy. "I wonder why he's making those sounds, though. Hey, Puppet! Over here!"

Puppet perked up and looked over at them. He walked over to them slowly and nodded once he got over to them. "Good morning." He said in a low, almost echoed voice.

Foxy grimaced a little. "Good morning to you, too. Everything okay? You don't sound all that good."

Puppet shook his head. "No, I'm not feeling particularly good. I feel a bit ill today."

Freddy gave Puppet a nervous look, then said: "Uh, be back with you in a second. I need to talk to Foxy." Freddy grabbed Foxy by the shoulder and backed them both a couple of feet away from Puppet, then leaned over to Foxy and whispered: "Foxy, doesn't Puppet sound a little weird today?"

"Yeah, I noticed. He did say that he's sick, so...could that be it?" Foxy whispered back. "We don't get normal illnesses though, so maybe he has a virus in his systems."

"That, or something else might've happened. Did he get a new voice actor?"

"Um, what?"

"Sorry, misspoke. I meant a new voicebox."

"Oh, I see. I don't know, but I don't think that's the reason here."

"Maybe not. I dunno what it could be, but he just sounds different than he usually does."

"What?" Puppet chimed in weakly.

"Oh, uh, Puppet!" Freddy voiced. "We were just, uh, looking at those balloons right over that way." He pointed at the balloon stand over at the corner of the room where all of the crates were piled up. "Pretty nice-looking, right?"

"I guess so..."

"So you said you were sick, Puppet?"

"Yeah...more accurately, a virus is in my systems and I don't know what to do..." Puppet moaned.

"Well, I'll tell you what, Puppet. I have an idea as to how you can get better: some of my chicken! Eat it up." Freddy took out a large piece of chicken and offered it to Puppet.

Puppet gave it an apprehensive look, which was appropriate given the quality of Freddy's cooking. "Um...I don't know about that solution. How would that work?"

Foxy just shrugged. "Give it a try, I guess. I mean, chicken is a component of chicken soup, and chicken soup always helps, so...maybe it'll work?"

"Oh, why didn't you just say chicken soup? I have some right here!" Freddy revealed, and he pulled out a bowl of said chicken soup. Foxy could not figure out where Freddy had made it come from, but he didn't focus too much on that. "It's all prepared and ready to be consumed."

"Alright, then, I'll try it." Puppet agreed in a low, unwell-sounding voice. "Just give it to me."

"Here." Freddy handed the soup to Puppet.

"He does sound really bad. No mistaking it." Foxy whispered to Freddy. Foxy wasn't too sure if Puppet's virus was really affecting him or not, but the way Puppet's voice sounded was convincing Foxy that it was a bad virus after all.

"Right. I really hope that chicken soup helps him." Freddy admit, sounding worried.

Puppet drank down the bowl. It was a small bowl, so he consumed it in only a few seconds.

"How does it taste?" Foxy asked.

"It's...alright. Doesn't taste bad." Puppet replied, although his voice sounded the same as ever.

"Do you feel any better after drinking that? Do you feel any different at all?" Freddy questioned anxiously.

Puppet nodded slightly. "Yeah, I guess I do feel a little bit better after having that..."

"But you don't sound any better than you did before you had that. Are you sure it helped?" Foxy said.

"Well...nobody gets cured in a matter of seconds. I'm sure it just needs some time to fully affect me."

They all stood there for a moment. Then, Foxy got an idea, and said: "Hey, Puppet, ever thought about taking your mask off? It's making your voice box echo a lot and it might help your voice if you remove it."

"I agree." Freddy agreed as if he was being thoughtful, but Foxy could tell that Freddy was thinking the same thing that he was. They were trying to help...but they were also curious.

Puppet put a hand to the lower portion of his face as he thought. "Hmm...yeah, I guess it might help. Let me see if I can get it off." He turned around, and they heard him start to grunt.

Foxy and Freddy instantly got excited. Neither of them had expected Puppet to actually be willing to take off his mask, but somehow, he had agreed to it.

"He's actually doing it?!" Foxy whispered in excitement. "Holy heck! We're actually about to see what he looks like without his mask! This'll be the first time we'll get to see."

"Yeah. I hope he looks cool." Freddy whispered back, his eyes still on Puppet.

However, when Puppet turned around, his mask was still on his face. Foxy and Freddy stuttered in confusion as Puppet simply stated: "Well, I tried, but I'm not actually able to remove it. Must be a design choice."

"Why would they force you to wear a mask if you can't ever remove it?" Foxy questioned incredulously. "That doesn't make any sense."

Puppet shrugged. "I mean, I don't think they ever intended me to be able to remove it, so they never added in that feature. Not that I ever had a reason to take off my mask in the first place, so I'm not upset."

"Oh no! But that means that you must be a zombie...or some kind of masked criminal being hunted by the FBI!" Freddy exclaimed.

"The FBI? What's that?"

"Hmm...acting as if you don't know what the FBI? Then you might secretly know what it is anyway." Foxy said. "If you didn't know, the FBI handles federal law and investigates criminal activity. Such as when criminals go into hiding: they launch search parties for them. And then criminals wear masks to hide their identity. So Puppet, you're not running from the FBI, are you?"

Puppet snorted. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Of course not. I wear a mask because the people who made me intended me to look that way. I didn't choose to wear this mask."

"Yeah, I know. I was just teasing you about the whole FBI thing."

"We were?" Freddy said.

"I was. You're telling me you were being serious, Freddy?"

Freddy shook his head. "No, no, of course not..."

"Now, any other virus remedies we should try?" Foxy looked towards Puppet, who was looking back and forth at them and the kitchen door. "Puppet, are you holding up alright?"

"Could be worse." Puppet muttered. "I was looking towards the kitchen because I was trying to go see Dinah before you guys came along. I was hoping he might have something that could purge the virus."

Foxy shook his head. "He can't; he's busy right now. I visited him earlier and he said that he would be working on the pizza and didn't want to be disturbed. He told me to tell you."

"And we don't need him, either." Freddy claimed. "I've got confidence in my abilities. I think I can fix you all on my own. Here, let's try this." Freddy opened his chest-plate slightly, took out a book, and closed it back up. "A storybook. I'll read you a story, and afterwards, you might feel a bit better."

Puppet nodded slightly. "Okay. Whatever you feel like."

Freddy opened the book. "Once upon a time, there was an ugly barnacle. He was so ugly that everyone di- hey, wait a minute, this story is just that one story from Spongebob. That's no good." Freddy looked up at Puppet. "Uh...by any chance, do you feel any better?"

Puppet shook his head this time. "Not really, no. I feel the same as I was before you said any of that..."

"For some reason, I feel a bit better." Foxy admit. "I guess that random story cheered me up somehow. Thanks, Freddy."

"Anytime." Freddy replied in a friendly manner. "But let's do a different solution. The storybook won't work." He opened his chest-plate, put the storybook back inside, and took out...a banjo? "I'll play a song for you."

"How the heck did you fit a banjo in your chest cavity, Freddy?" Foxy asked in wonder.

"A bit of effort is all it took." He responded nonchalantly. "Now, let's play a nice song! This'll cheer you up in no time! Here goes!" He strummed the banjo at a fast pace, and the horrible noise began. Freddy was outright bad at playing the banjo, so the notes came out in very scrambled and noisy ways. Along with that, Freddy was loudly shouting "Chicken!" over and over in a way that sounded as if that word was meant to be the lyrics, but all it did was add to the sound level.

Freddy finally finished, and asked: "Well? What do you think?"

"Yeah...your banjo playing is going to need some work, Freddy." Foxy advised, wincing a little.

"I don't feel any different..." Puppet groaned.

"Ah, should've known it wouldn't work. Let me try something else." Freddy decided, changing his tune at once. He went over to his closet and went inside, then came back out holding something else. "How about this: an extremely valuable, practically priceless diamond! Does that make you feel any better?" Sure enough, Freddy was holding a bright, glittering diamond in his hand. It looked legitimate, which made it all the more confusing: how had Freddy gotten his hands on that? Foxy couldn't understand.

"What?! Where did you get something like that?" Puppet sputtered, voicing the question that Foxy had thought of.

"That doesn't matter. I just found it, and now I have." Freddy replied, dodging the question entirely. "So, do you feel any better? What if I rub it along your arm?" Freddy rubbed the diamond on Puppet's arm. "There! Any changes?"

"No, but...what if you gave it to me? Can I have it?"

"Well, no, of course you can't. It's mine. And I was intending to give it to Garbage later on, too."

"Come on, hand it over. If you give it to me, I might feel a little better..." Puppet muttered, but Foxy could tell that Puppet only wanted the diamond because it was valuable.

"I don't know if you should give it to Puppet or not, but I don't think you should let Garbage have that." Foxy suggested seriously. "He won't have any use for it, so it'll just go to waste."

"Hmm...you might have a point there. No use for the diamond, then." Freddy said, putting the diamond into his chest cavity and taking out a gleaming golden instrument. "But how about this? I can play you another song on my French horn! The banjo may have sucked, but this is sure to work!"

"Um, are you sure?" Foxy replied concernedly. "I don't really see how the French horn is going to be much of an improvement over the banjo."

"Me neither..." Puppet added quietly.

"Oh, relax. Just let me play a single sound with it." Freddy responded, and he took the French horn and played it. A low, strained honk came. "There. Feel any better yet, Puppet?"

"No..."

"None at all? Then maybe I should play it while being closer to you. How about I do it right in your ear?"

"I don't even have ears, and no, I don't think you should- AUGH!" Puppet winced as Freddy made another bad-sounding honk with the horn, doing so right next to Puppet. "That didn't help, that was just loud! You're making my headache worse! At least, that's what it feels like. I can't really tell..."

"Yeah, I think you're doing more harm than good by doing that, Freddy." Foxy said. "Shouldn't you try something less harmful?"

"I guess so. How about this flower? Maybe looking at it will improve your condition." Freddy decided, and he handed Puppet a rose. Puppet took one look at it, paused, then made a small sneezing noise and dropped it, as if he had actually sneezed. "No, my flower!" Freddy picked it up and inspected it worriedly. "You dropped it on the ground! Now all the germs on the floor will be on it..."

"Hey, wait a minute. There's still one part of this that I'm not getting." Foxy cut in. "Puppet, how'd you get a virus in your system, anyhow? You haven't explained that part yet. I mean, aren't we animatronics? It's kind of unusual for us to get sick."

"I'm not too sure, but I have an idea of how it happened." Puppet groaned. "I was trying to take a bath earlier, and I thought I'd be safe since I'm waterproof, but I spent too long in there and I short-circuited...next thing I knew, my systems had detected a virus entering my hardware."

"Oh, that's right; we're not entirely waterproof. I guess the waterproof coating and other waterproof functions were early versions, because I learned from my database that if we stay in water for too long, we'll short-circuit anyway."

"Hey...why were you taking a bath, Puppet?" Freddy asked confusedly. "Animatronics don't usually take baths."

"I was dirty. I needed one." Puppet replied, frowning. "Animatronics are all metal, and they can get dirty too. They need proper baths to stay clean, otherwise they'll develop really foul odors."

"I understand that, but still, us animatronics really don't need to take baths very often." Foxy reasoned. "So, still, it's a little strange, but it's your choice. Hmm, that reminds me...I think I remember something happening earlier. I was relaxing in this room when I saw Bon-Bon passing by. He said he'd be going into your room, Puppet, to do 'something'."

"What?! He's going there right now?" Puppet exclaimed, his voice still sounding unwell at the same time. "Heck no! I need to stop him..." Puppet looked ready to run off in the direction of his box.

"No, no, not at this moment! I meant earlier, he did it. Based on what he was muttering, I think he went down there while you were bathing and put the virus in there. But then...Puppet, did you happen to go to sleep when you were bathing?"

"I mean...I might've done it once, for a few minutes. What about it?"

"Oh no. Then that means that Bon-Bon went in there while you were asleep and somehow got the virus to enter your systems while the water short-circuited you. That has to be the reason. The only thing that doesn't add up is how he did it..."

"Then that means he did it intentionally, doesn't it?" Freddy questioned concernedly.

"So he's the one that let the virus into my hardware..." Puppet mumbled, sounding resentful. "That little..."

"I should've known he would've tried something like this. He's startling thoughtful when it comes to getting revenge." Foxy grumbled. "But biological warfare this time? That's new. I didn't even know he was capable of that, or that he'd even try something like that to his 'enemy' as he always says..."

Freddy perked up. "Wait, what was that word you just said?"

"Biological warfare?"

"No, enemy. But if Bon-Bon considers Puppet his enemy, then...then that means they're trying to harm each other! And not just playfighting, but actual fighting! That's not right at all!"

"It's more than just being enemies." Puppet said firmly. "Consider it more like a constantly-changing predator-prey relationship. At points, one of us is the goldfish and the other is the heron. At other points, the roles change. Think of our fighting like that."

"Like sea creatures? I don't think of those much. Just sea cucumbers."

"Okay, okay, this conversation is getting way too off-track." Foxy cut in, a little exasperatedly at that. They were missing the point of why they were even here with Puppet. "Freddy, isn't there something we're supposed to be doing right now? You know, to help Puppet?"

Freddy perked up again. "That's right! Puppet's not feeling well, and we're supposed to make him feel better. I forgot about it while going through the 'enemy' talk. Hmm...well, the diamond didn't work, so I'm not going to use it." Freddy took the diamond out and carelessly tossed it into the air.

"NO!" Foxy and Puppet shouted, afraid of what would happen, and they both moved. Foxy was faster, however, and he managed to catch the diamond before it could hit the ground and get scratched. "There! It's mine now!" Foxy declared, and he tucked the diamond into his internal storage unit to make sure it would stay with him.

"Aw, man..." Puppet sighed. "Better luck next time, I guess."

"Anyway, what about this? This mystery container!" Freddy pulled out a container with a strange transparent liquid. "I found it lying around somewhere. If you drink it, your condition might improve! Bottoms up!"

"Huh? Wait, I-" Puppet protested, but Freddy had already walked over and was forcing the substance into Puppet's mouth.

"There! Feel any better yet?"

Puppet was quiet for a moment. "Better isn't the word I'd use, but I feel...different."

"Different how?" Foxy asked, concerned at what the mysterious substance might have done.

"I feel as if...I have a different point of view on things now."

"A different point of view? Am I still your friend? Is Foxy still your friend? Are we still on good terms?!" Freddy panicked.

"Uh...yeah? That didn't change."

"Phew! Was worried for a moment there. Well, what did change, then?"

Puppet seemed to think for a moment, and he spoke in a very odd tone. "For some reason, I've suddenly got a weird appreciation of elevators. And trains. And other forms of transportation. Transportation everywhere. In your homes. On your lawn. In the kitchen. No avoiding them."

"Foxy, is Puppet broken?" Freddy asked nervously. "He's acting weird!"

"Must be the thing you gave him." Foxy replied. "Shouldn't you get him to cough it back up?"

Freddy shrugged. "Not sure. I kind of like this Puppet a little better, to be honest."

"I don't. Sorry, Freddy, but we need him to be normal. This isn't normal. I'll get him to cough it back up."

Foxy walked over to Puppet and gave him a hard pat on the back. Puppet went oddly still. He faced the ceiling...and a wispy, transparent, almost smoke-like thing flew out of his mouth, floating through the ceiling and out of sight.

"What in the-?" Foxy stuttered, confused. What was that just now? Puppet had consumed a liquid, so why had he coughed up some gas-like thing instead?

"What happened?! Puppet, are you okay?" Freddy questioned anxiously. "Say something!"

Puppet stared ahead, his face giving an odd look. "What...happened? I don't remember what I just did, I just consumed that liquid and...everything went dark for a moment." He sounded alright again, thankfully. The odd voice effect that the virus had added was still there, but other than that, he seemed fine.

"It's alright, we handled it." Foxy assured him. "Just try not to drink unidentifiable liquids next time, alright? By the way, Freddy, what was that you gave him?"

"I dunno. What does it say?" Freddy asked, handing the container to Foxy. Foxy stared down at the label.

Liquified Remnant

Imbued with soul energy

Foxy froze. He didn't know what the 'remnant' thing was, but he suddenly felt a heavy sensation inside himself. Something about this stuff felt wrong. Feeling a sense of worry and discomfort, he decided to act as if nothing had happened.

"It's nothing special. Just take it back." He said, giving the container back to Freddy.

"Oh, okay." Freddy replied, taking the container and putting it inside his own storage cavity. "Guess I'll just hold on to it until I can throw it away. Anyway, Puppet! We don't know if he's fixed yet! Puppet, quick! Tell me what your opinion is on elevators!"

Puppet shrugged. "Uh...they're fine? I've never really thought about them. Ladders and staircases are a more of my thing, but elevators are alright."

Foxy and Freddy both sighed in relief. "Alright, he's definitely back to normal." Foxy said. "Wait, one more test. Puppet, what about trains? Do you like them?"

"They're okay, but I'm fine with walking everywhere."

"Yep, Freddy, he's back. No mistake about it."

"Thank goodness." Freddy chuckled. "That was a weird situation."

"Why are you guys talking about me? Come on, I'm still not feeling very well..." Puppet groaned.

"Hmm...then it's time I try one more remedy. This one can't possibly fail." Freddy voiced confidently. "Foxy, might want to back up a little. This might get intense."

"Okay?" Foxy muttered, backing up a couple of paces.

"Puppet...FEEL BETTER!" Freddy shouted at the top of his voicebox, getting in Puppet's face. Puppet jumped a little, startled by Freddy's sudden increase in volume. "Eh? How are you feeling now, Puppet?"

"Uh...surprised?" Puppet stammered, sounding disoriented. "But...I guess I feel a little better. Not in terms of the virus being gone, but emotionally, I do feel better."

"Hey, that's an improvement! Come on, isn't emotional troubles what really matters at the end of the day?"

"But I can still hear that weird part of your tone of voice that's different from usual. Shouldn't we fix that?" Foxy brought up. Sure, Freddy's sudden call may have improved Puppet's mood, but that wasn't getting them anywhere in terms of eliminating the virus.

"What's up with it, actually? Did he shrink? Is there a tiny megaphone down there?"

Foxy thought for a moment. If it was coming from his tone of voice, then what had the virus done to Puppet besides making him feel a little under the weather?

The answer came quickly to him, and Foxy snapped his fingers. "That's it! It must've gotten into his voice box!"

"Hey, that sounds right! Why didn't we think of that before?" Freddy exclaimed.

Foxy laughed quietly. "Yeah, we don't really put our heads together or think a whole lot on this stuff, Freddy. If we did, I bet all the problems that arise would end up being solved way faster than they normally do."

Puppet groaned again. "I still feel bad. I should just go and listen to some calming music or something."

Freddy gasped in excitement. "Music? I can do that! Behold my French horn!" And, predictably, he went right back into making dull honks with the horn that got on Foxy's nerves. He winced at the loud noises Freddy continued to play.

"Alright, alright, quit it!" Foxy interrupted, going over and holding the French horn down so Freddy wouldn't play it. "What's with that instrument, Freddy?"

"I don't know! I was just trying to get into the Christmas spirit, like Ballora does."

Foxy moaned at this statement. "Please don't do it like that, though. The last thing I need is for you to start doing what Ballora does for Christmas."

Freddy nodded. "Okay, okay. I'll stop with the music until I get better."

Foxy nodded, then went over to Puppet. "Hey, Puppet, I think I know what to do. There's some anti-virus CDs in one of the cabinets in the kitchen. If you need to get better, use one of those."

Puppet smiled a little. "Oh, that's what I was supposed to do? Thanks, but I wish you would've told me earlier."

"Yeah, sorry. Got caught up in Freddy's antics again."

"I don't blame you. He gets like that when he's around."

"Well, I've gotten tired out of this already. I think I need some alone time." Foxy announced. "I'll be heading back to my room now. If you two have problems, you can deal with them on your own. I've got rest to catch up on, and so does Mr. Wigglesworth."

"Mr. Wigglesworth?" Freddy stuttered confusedly, and Puppet had a knowing look on his face.

Foxy grimaced. "Er, nothing. Here, how about this." Foxy took the diamond out. "You guys can decide who gets this. I don't want it." Foxy tossed it into the air like Freddy had.

"NO!" Freddy and Puppet yelled in a similar fashion to the previous time the diamond had been tossed. This time, Puppet was the one who caught it, and he quickly laughed and ran off down the hall. Freddy, looking upset, quickly chased after the marionette.

With those two busy, Foxy could now go get the rest he wanted without any of the others questioning Mr. Wigglesworth. He knew it was considered weird to sleep with a teddy bear, but he liked it. The stuffed bear talked to him, and he talked to the stuffed bear. It was like having someone to talk to that would always listen. It was nice.

So Foxy went off to his room. The others would remember Mr. Wigglesworth at some point, and they'd get back into talking about it eventually, but for now, he could relax and think of nothing but dreamland...