Chapter 3: How to Disappear Completely

Mangle kept fiddling with the new cut in her ear. Being inorganic there was no worrying about infections or scabs or anything like that, but it was still generally a bad idea to do it. Just like a scab though, she couldn't help but pick at it. After all, there was suddenly a sizable empty spot in her left ear that wasn't there before.

"Mangle, cut it out."

Her finger twitched before she brought her hand down.

"S-sorry..."

Goldie's annoyed expression turned away, back to the table in front of them. Mangle was sitting next to Goldie, who was playing cards with Fred and Bonbon.

Bonbon barely knew how to play, same as Mangle, who had decided not to play for that very reason. Fred and Goldie knew the game well, though Goldie was clearly getting better hands than Fred. Fred bickered relentlessly about Goldie cheating somehow, and they'd argue over it, giving Mangle yet another opportunity for her mind to wander. As far as she could tell, Goldie was just getting lucky.

It seemed pretty much all based on luck and lying.

"That's the sixteenth time you've gotten a Four-of-a-Kind this week! You're cheating Goldie! You have to be!"

"Fred, calm down. I'm just lucky this week."

"No! There's no way in hell you're-" Fred crossed his eyes and put on a poor imitation of Goldie's voice- "just lucky!"

"Quit being a sore loser Fred, that's the immature crap that made Mangle choose a man like me over your whiny ass, now suck it up and hand over the chips."

Mangle only started listening again when she heard her name. Of all the things Goldie could've said, he decided to bring her up. Mangle looked down and sank into her chair, feeling Fred's glare shift over from Goldie to her. As if to comfort her, she felt Goldie's hand on her thigh.

Ironically, it made her even more painfully uncomfortable.

In the middle of the table was, in fact, a literal bag of chips. They didn't need to eat, but "need" certainly had no place in their design; they were excessively advanced given they were made for entertainment. Beside the tons of tech meant as safety precautions for the children at the restaurant, they also had the option to break down most foods into energy akin to that of a stomach.

She hadn't had the faintest idea how it worked, nor why they needed it, but she wasn't curious enough to start opening herself up to find out.

Reluctantly, Freddy muttered something under his breath while pushing the bag towards Goldie, while Bonbon was still just staring at his cards.

"Aren't you going to check Bonbon's hand?" Mangle asked Goldie, who had already grabbed the bag of chips by the time he looked back at her and responded.

"I got a Four-of-a-Kind Mangle, I doubt he got anything that beats that. He'd speak up if he did."

"Just check his hand Goldie."

Goldie rolled his eyes in annoyance, and then gestured to Bonbon across the table.

"Alright, show us the hand."

Bonbon looked at the cards and then back to them before putting them face up on the table. Mangle could tell he didn't know at all what a good hand was with the confused expression his face had the whole game.

When Fred and Goldie's eyes saw the cards, both of their jaws dropped.

"A Royal Flush…" Fred simply stated, "Well, hand him the chips Goldie, he wins."

"Nuh-uh! He never played his hand, that's an automatic fold!" Goldie retaliated.

"Just give him the chips Goldie."

Goldie just stood still for a moment before bitterly tossing to chips on the table, which Bonbon eagerly grabbed at.

"What was it you said about being a sore loser?" Fred remarked, giving Goldie a dirty look.

Goldie was quiet, clearly upset over the sudden turn of events. The table was full of an awkward tension, especially between Goldie and Fred. Bonbon and Mangle shot each other an awkward glance, both of them knowing that the two bears were probably going to stay this hostile for the entire following week if they didn't do something to break it up now.

"H-hey, did you guys hear what the manager said was happening tomorrow?" Bonbon spoke up, trying to change the subject.

"Tomorrow's Sunday, isn't it? I thought we didn't host parties on Sunday," Mangle asked, both out of real curiosity, as well as an attempt to get the conversation rolling in hopes one of the two bears would join in.

Fred's expression suddenly became a lot more positive hearing this brought up.

"You didn't hear, huh?" Fred looked around the table excitedly, "Foxy's gettin' scrapped!"

"He talked to me about it earlier yesterday, they're coming to pick him up early this morning!" Goldie pitched in, equally excited.

Mangle was happy to see them both completely forget about their hostility just earlier, but now she was taken aback by the sudden news.

"Wait, really? He's… He's getting scrapped today?" She asked, her voice tinged with concern.

"Yep! I bet you're the happiest to hear that out of all of us. You won't have to worry about him hurting you anymore!" Bonbon said.

"Y-yeah, yeah it's good to hear…" she said, trailing off.

She didn't understand why she felt bothered by this. He attacked her just last night! He was a violent, problem-causing thug and she'd be safer with him gone. She ran this over and over in her head, trying to convince herself, but something just didn't sit right with her.

She lifted her fingers to her ear again, fiddling with the cut again. How could she have any doubt in her mind about him if she had all the proof she needed right there in her ear?

"...Mangle! what, did you blow a gasket?" Goldie said in his once again annoyed tone, nudging her to attention.

Mangle looked up. "I just need a moment; I think I'll be fine-"

"Oh good going Fred, you got her thinking about last night again."

"Me? Bonbon's the one who brought it up!"

"Hey, don't look at me, it's good news, isn't it?"

Their arguing faded to the back of Mangle's attention, her mind was on other things. She just couldn't stop mulling it over in her head, something about Foxy getting scrapped felt… wrong.

"Guys, guys, guys, just calm down alright?" Fred interrupted the bickering, "We should be celebrating! Foxy's gonna be gone by sunrise! We'll finally have this place safely to ourselves! No more savages mucking up the place, just proper folk like us."

"Yeah, things are gonna be a lot better from now on." Goldie pitched in, looking at Mangle as he spoke. He reached his hand out, grabbing her leg tightly. It was… uncomfortable.

"Speaking of better things," called out a cartoonishly feminine voice, "Pizza. Is. Ready."

Toy Chica walked out from the kitchen carrying a large platter of Pizza to the cheers of everyone, especially Balloon Boy who ran right over to Mangle, excitedly bragging about how he helped make it. It was just leftovers warmed up in the oven, but she indulged him; he was just a kid after all. It certainly seemed to ease everyone's aggressions, nearly instantly as well.

The night continued that way, with everyone talking together. The topic of conversation shifted from one thing to the other, but it always went back to Foxy. It made sense, considering they were celebrating his riddance from their lives. Even so, every time Mangle heard his name, it felt as if the room was closing in on her. She didn't want to think about him after last night, yet every time she was reminded about his fast-approaching death made her feel like her insides were folding in on themselves. Suddenly, Mangle had her attention pulled back to reality by Balloon Boy, who was sitting in her lap.

"Mommy? Are you okay?" He asked, tugging on her arm.

Mangle took a deep breath before answering.

"I'm fine, I'm just a little exhausted today…" she trailed off, looking around the table and seeing that no one was really paying attention to them. Even Goldie, who she usually couldn't get to stop touching her. They were throwing darts into an old poster of Foxy from the restaurant before it was remodeled.

He looked so different back then; happy, clean, so full of life. Not a single broken part on him. Even when Mangle first laid her eyes on him, he was in much worse condition. She remembered seeing him for the first time, it was the first thing she ever experienced here. Waking up in the dark, cold back room. Her limbs were misplaced, misaligned, broken, and stuck… and he was trying to fix her.

Mangle's eyes snapped out from the vague mid-distance they were locked on, looking back to Balloon Boy, who was eagerly awaiting her next words.

"...I might go for a walk to clear my mind though, now that I have a chance." She said, whispering to the kid. "Can you get off my lap quietly?"

Balloon Boy nodded and quickly slid off her lap, hiding under the table. Mangle got up from the table slowly, not drawing any attention to herself as the rest of the gang was either sitting on the other side or busy playing "darts." Safely away, she walked out of the room and began pacing around the restaurant, hoping to clear her mind.

Foxy looked at the remains of his old friends, standing in the open doorway of the back repair room. He didn't plan on staying any longer than tonight. As if the months before weren't reason enough, last night was all the reason he needed. Foxy, now, was set on leaving tonight. Still, he found himself not wanting to do it. He looked over the withered bodies of Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica. He sighed, walking into the room, stopping in the middle of all his friends.

"I think I'm gonna leave tonight," he started, looking over Bonnie and Chica's bodies, "I know you weren't really fond of this place Bonnie, so I doubt you'll give me any shit for this." He paused, listening to the silence in the air while the rabbit's exposed wiring stayed perfectly still. "...Yeah, I figured as much."

He turned over to Freddy, "You, on the other hand, I figured you'd have more to say about this. I thought preaching about 'sticking together' was your whole shtick," -Foxy playfully knocked the back of Freddy's head- "anything to say?"

Freddy's idle head slowly slipped down from being knocked, before drooping down as far as his neck joint would let it. His lifeless eyes still wide open, now staring at the floor.

"...Don't be so down about it, I'll send you a letter or something, wherever I end up."

Foxy turned to Chica's corpse now, his mouth hung open for a second, unable to speak.

"I… I'll miss your cooking the most. That new girl? She's no good, the lass can barely reheat leftovers from what I've seen. Give her a piece of my mind once I'm gone will ya?" Foxy finished, his voice starting to crack by the end of it.

Foxy's throat felt choked up, trying to scrape what little familiarity he had left up from the husks around him was taking an emotional toll on him now. He backed away from the bodies and towards the door. Someday he'd avenge them, or at least give them the send-off they deserved.

"I'll… I'll miss you guys" He finally said between breaths, forcing himself out of the room. Shutting the door behind him, he walked away before giving himself a chance to think any harder about it.

He focused on his breaths, trying not to think too hard about what he was doing. He was in the hallway leading to the main entrance, the same hallway as the night before with Mangle. As far as he was aware, the Faz gang was preoccupied with celebrating… something. He didn't really care what, so long as it kept them distracted.

He eyed the security office to the middle of the hallway. If there was anywhere that he'd find the keys to the front doors, it'd probably be in there. The others being busy with their little party gave him the time he needed to find those keys and get out, nice and quiet. After that, he'd probably slip into the alleyways or sewers, somewhere out of sight, and find his way to somewhere less populated from there.

He didn't know much about the outside world. Only what he saw out the windows, the one time he had been active while being transported to a storage facility while the restaurant was being remodeled, and whatever he overheard the humans talking about during the daytime. That said, he could piece together well enough that an animatronic wouldn't be very welcome into the outside world. Even so, it had to be better than being stuck here.

Inside the musty old office, the bent fan blades buzzed away in his ears while he rummaged through the desk drawers. Foxy remembered what Marionette had told him the other night. A safe haven for animatronics that didn't belong anywhere. Well, maybe not safe, given how Marionette described it. But regardless, he wouldn't have to hide in the shadows there. Not that he wasn't used to it already, he had basically been doing that ever since those new animatronics arrived here. Hiding in either his cove or the repair room, slipping around when they weren't looking to get anywhere, just to even take a walk. Foxy was reminded, looking down at his legs, that sometimes it didn't even work.

Finally, Foxy picked up the keyring, a big old rusty hoop with ironically few keys hanging on it. One of them read "entrance" in poorly scrawled marker on aged masking tape. He playfully tossed it onto what remained of his busted hook, spinning it as he exited the office.

Sneaking back out from the security room, Foxy got his bearings, making sure the coast was clear. Down the hallway to the main party room, he could make out something that gave him a twinge of nostalgia. One of his old posters, now full of darts. He couldn't help but think about how weirdly obsessed they were with hating him, he couldn't recall seeing them get along any other time.

As the vulpine traversed the hallway towards the front door, he spotted the last thing he wanted to see. Mangle. She looked at him with the most poorly disguised expression of fear he had seen in ages. She clearly wasn't expecting to see him again so soon.

"Y-you're not supposed to be out of the cove."

Foxy just looked at her, unimpressed. Mangle was silent, unmoving, as if she couldn't do a thing until he responded.

"Do me a favor, Mangle, and leave."

Unfortunately, Mangle was absolutely petrified. The offset feeling in her stomach had begun to flare higher. It mixed with the denial and the confused hatred that she pinned on Foxy to keep the guilt from stabbing through her.

But it could.

And it did.

Foxy simply stared her down with his golden, soul-piercing gaze, waiting for some response, even just a movement or twitch.

All he got was her continued silence.

"If you want to say something, I suggest you spit it out, lass."

Mangle's cut ear began to twitch.

"You… You know what they're gonna do to you," she finally stammered out.

"...Is that a threat?"

The vixen seemed to cower slightly, an opportunity the vulpine took to move closer. His lip curled into a snarl as his sharply lit eyes inched closer with every passing second. They were like pinpricks in the dark, each a faint spark of light piercing, no, burning through her.

"You waste my time, you betray and abandon me, you tear off my ear, you let those bastards destroy me, you ruin my hook, and now... you threaten me?"

The look in Foxy's eyes somehow left Mangle more terrified than she already was. Suddenly, he took a breath, looked away from her, striding right past her and to the door.

"Whatever, I'm not sticking around to find out what they'll do to me this time," he finally answered. He held his mouth open, deciding on the spot if he wanted to continue, "Not sure you'd want to either."

The fox turned and pushed the key into the door before giving it a turn.

"W-Wait!"

Foxy glared back up at her.

"You're just as shallow, selfish, and spineless as the rest of them."

He turned the handle, his heart racing as he felt his hands inching closer to freedom.

"Foxy, no!"

Mangle lunged for him, causing the fox to throw the door open and let a blast of frigid autumn air sweep over the both of them as he took his first step outside. The wind rustled in his synthetic fur as he stared outside, then back at Mangle. She was frozen at the doorway, not daring to step outside.

As she stared at him, he turned his head to her just barely, and uttered the last words she'd remember hearing him say.

"I'm free."

And with that, he was gone.

Just... gone.

AN: The stage is set, and the real story can finally begin! Only took me three chapters. I hope you've all been enjoying this, please leave a review and tell me what you think so far.

I also have some news! Me, SpaceCat010, and Relatingewe have all started a Discord server together for anyone who likes to write FNAF related stuff. Anyone who's just interested in such a group is free to join as well. I'd post the whole link, but FFN doesn't like links very much. To join, just click "Add Server" in Discord, and use the code on my profile to locate ours.